


Camelot's Underworld

by eldee



Category: Merlin - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, F/M, M/M, Minor Character Death, Modern AU, Vampires, Werewolves, reel_merlin 2010
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-04
Updated: 2010-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-12 08:17:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/122820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eldee/pseuds/eldee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's been a war raging for centuries between the vampires and the lycans (werewolves.) Arthur, prince of the Pendragon coven, is also the leader of the Knights – an ops team of vampires sworn to hunt the lycans down. Arthur wants to know why the lycans and their leader, Lancelot, are so interested in the human Merlin Emrys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Camelot's Underworld

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Supernatural elements (vampires and werewolves) and associated behaviors (fighting, biting, and blood.) Also, guns and violence and some kidnapping. Character Death.
> 
> Thanks to my fabulous beta sionnain for helping me get my runaway commas under control. Written for the reel_merlin Round Three 2010 challenge. (Rated Mature for violence.)

The young woman's long dark hair hung down limp in front of her face as her head lolled forward. Thick leather straps kept her small frame tight against the upright board, keeping the rest of her immobile.

She started to come around out of her unconsciousness, eyes opening and blinking rapidly, trying to clear the blurry haze that impaired her vision. She moaned softly, head rolling to the side as she tried to bring it upright. Finally finding enough strength, she rested it back against the board.

She looked around the room she was in. It was dark and dank, and almost looked like an unfinished basement of some old, huge building. The grey brick cement walls were jagged and unfinished, the dirty mortar crumbling from age and neglect. She could hear water dripping somewhere off in the distance, the drops of it bouncing off stone walls.

A man came into the room, though he did not pay her much attention and only went to a workbench. There were vials and test tubes set up, an entirely chemistry set atop a layer of grime on a wooden tabletop.

The young woman whimpered. "Please." She didn't know what she was asking for at this point, but she knew she needed help. This wasn't right.

The man turned around, and she saw that he was older in years. Grey hair hung to his shoulders, and there were some crease lines that should have been age wrinkles. And, yet, there was something off about him; even with the wrinkles, his skin was smoother and paler then it should be, and his eyes glimmered with vitality.

He smiled at her, a flash of gleaming white sharp teeth. "Ahhh, yes. Hello, Freya."

That he knew her named panicked her, for it was not a good sign. She whimpered again, fear soaking into the sound. "What is this?" she asked, voice small as her eyes looked around wildly. "Why am I here?"

"Not to worry, not to worry," the man responded, voice calm and soothing. "It will not hurt."

But with this, he picked up a large needle, and walked towards her.

"No," Fraya pleaded, shaking her head. "You don't have to hurt me."

"Shh, child," he said, though he did not stop his advancement. "Just a little prick, it won't hurt a bit."

He was wrong, it did hurt. More from emotional confusion and fear than from anything else. "You may have very special blood," he explained, though she still did not understand. "I just have to do a little test, you see. Nothing more than an experiment."

"Don't hurt me," she continued to plead. She didn't want to be apart of some crazy old man's science experiment.

His grin was almost maniacal and did nothing to rest her worry. "Oh, this part won't hurt, dear. Though, if your blood tests positive to what we need ... " He shook his head, grin dropped and face set in seriousness. "Then it could end up fixing the blood feud."

At that, he chuckled at a pun she didn't have any clue about. Against her own will, she asked, "What's the next part?"

"Oh, dear, we'll worry about that if we come upon it, yes?"

From the shadows in the corner of the room, a second man's voice growled out, joining in their conversation. In contrast to the old man's voice, which rang out through the room as clear as a bell, this second one was low and guttural.

"Now, Gaius," the second man said, "there's no need to over explain."

The first man, Gaius she now knew, turned to the corner, an eyebrow raised in bemusement. As he addressed the man, he seemed to look directly at him as if he could see him, but as hard as Freya strained her eyes, she could see no one.

"Now, now, there is nothing wrong with explaining a hypothesis. It is all part of the scientific process, Lancelot."

The second man – Lancelot – stepped into the dim light. If his voice was a contrast to Gaius', it was nothing like the difference in appearance. Lancelot was a strapping young man, tall and muscular. His hair hung to his shoulders, but it was shaggy and disheveled, like a warrior of old. His face was strong and chiseled, though thick stubble covered his face. Only his eyes were like Gaius'; bright and piercing, though they were a deep chocolate brown.

Lancelot moved across the room with a hulking grace, pausing before the table. He did not so much as give Freya a glance. "Just do it," he said, as if ordering Gaius' around.

"Getting to it, getting to it," Gaius retorted, abandoning his position at Freya's side and joining Lancelot. Neither paid any more attention to her as she watched Gaius' put drops of her blood into a vial of solvent.

He added one other drop of something, and another of something else, and took a long clear stir stick, mixing it all together. She could see Lancelot watching with rapt attention, an arm hugging across his firm stomach, the other hand up to his face and tensely resting over his mouth, fingertips drumming at his cheek.

The solvent slowly changed, going clear to a milky grey, and finally fully dissolving into black.

The shoulders on both men dropped, and that made Freya afraid. Neither seemed very happy.

"Negative," Gaius announced.

Lancelot's face betrayed disappointment but only for a moment. With a soft yet determined voice, he said, "Deal with her."

Freya might not have understood what was going on around her, but that command was as clear as a bell. She started wiggling against her confinements, and she couldn't stop herself from repeated, _"No. No. No_ ," as she struggled against her bonds.

"Enough," Gaius said, gesturing one hand at her though he did not look at her. He nodded at Lancelot. "I will give her a sleeping draft, and it will haze her memory of the last twelve hours or so." Freya felt as if this explanation was more for her benefit, as it was likely Lancelot had heard it before. Gaius continued, "She'll have no idea what happened here."

Lancelot gave a wry grin. "I'm shocked to hear this clemency from a vampire."

Gaius rolled his eyes at this, and Freya felt as though she was missing an inside joke. "And this coming from a lycan," Gaius muttered under his breath. "I've explained before, getting rid of them will only end the bloodline, and how will that help future generations?"

"I don't want it in the future, I want it _now_. It has to be now," Lancelot said urgently. But he tilted his head in agreement. "But do as you need to."

As he said this, Lancelot walked over to the wall. Freya could see a large piece of paper posted up, with pictures of people and names written under each, set up almost like a family tree. It was huge, clearly spanning over several generations; there were several from the newest generation that had a black x drawn over their faces.

Freya watched as Lancelot picked up a black marker, and drew an x over a picture of her. She started to scream.

Within an instant, Gaius was at her side, ice cold hand palming her mouth. "Shush, child," he said lowly. "Do not make this worse."

She tried to hold in her sob, though tears streaked down her face. Gaius left her side, but within a few seconds was back, forcing her to drink a bitter liquid. She tried to resist, but he overpowered her, tightly gripping her jaw open, pouring it down her throat. "There you are," he said, voice gentle in comparison to his rough actions. "It'll all be better soon."

He rejoined Lancelot at the genetic map spread across the wall. Freya could feel whatever it was in that liquid taking over her; her sight began to dim, and it was difficult to focus on anything. But she strained to listen to the conversation of the two men - no, not men exactly - who had captured and held her here.

"There is still hope?" Gaius asked.

"Yes," Lancelot answered. A gloved finger brushed over a specific picture - one of a young man with dark hair that did not cover ears that stuck out a bit too much. "Right here in Camelot."

"Perhaps I should go and get him?" Gaius asked.

"No, I have sent one of my own. Edwin will bring him back."

Gaius snorted. "Let's hope he's in one piece. His name?"

"Merlin," Lancelot said. "Merlin Emrys. He is believed to be of the Balinor line, though it was quite difficult tracing his lineage."

Freya tried with all her might to hold on to this name - Merlin Emrys. She had to warn this man, had to warn him about vampires and lycans and being kidnapped and ... But it was so difficult, as sleep threatened to take over. And none of it was making sense anymore, none of these things were real or existed. But she had to tell him, this... Merlin. Yes. That was his name.

But it was suddenly gone as if a butterfly caught up in a hurricane.

And then all was black, and she would not recover these moments, or his name, ever again.

***

 

Merlin Emrys rushed along in the rain. His hoodie was up in an attempt to protecting him from the precipitation, but it just soaked right thought the material, drenching him. He dodged in and out of the crowd, ducking at the right times to keep the ends of umbrellas from poking him in the eye. He quickly descended the steps of Camelot's tube system; he needed to catch the underground to the other side of town and he was already running a bit late. His supervisor hated when Merlin ran in late; though, in Merlin's opinion, a medical student's life was too full to be on time for anything and there should be a little bit of leeway. Unfortunately, no one else at the hospital saw it that way.

In the station, Merlin pushed the hood back and shook his head, droplets of water flying from the ends of his short dark hair. Despite his rush, he took a moment to step aside and smile sweetly at an older woman wishing to board the tube as well. It was just pulling up, and though the crowd started to collapse in on the platform to huddle around the door, he let her ahead of him, protecting her from being shoved about by other less kindly passengers.

But then, chaos.

It happened so fast that Merlin wasn't sure just _what_ was going on. Suddenly there were gunshots, quickly followed by screams. Merlin could see everyone hit the deck; he did the same, dropping to the cement, pain spiking through his knees. He threw an arm over his head, as if that would somehow stop bullets from entering his flesh, and he tried to peak out to see what was going on.

On the other end of the platform, he could see a man in a long brown trench coat holding a silver gun out in front of him. Even from a distance, Merlin could see the deep burn scars that covered half his face and went down his neck, disappearing under his shirt. On the other end of the platform, Merlin could see another man standing in direct opposition to the first. He was an average height, but with broad shoulders and a strong look about him. He had blond hair and eyes that were an unnaturally bright blue. He was behind a column for protection, eyes surveying the scene expertly, landing ever so briefly on Merlin. But they skated over him, taking in the sight of others, and looked in the reflection of the window of train. With that, he turned around and directed a gun of his own toward the scarred man, shooting at him.

"Jesus," Merlin muttered under his breath, afraid of the situation; in a usually peaceful Camelot, this sort of thing had been happening more and more recently in the past couple months. Merlin Emrys, a simple man from a simple life back home in Ealdor, never once suspected he'd find himself in the middle of it.

 

Although it seemed he was destined to help out in some way. He could see a young woman off to the side, a bullet wound in her shoulder. Not life threatening, he quickly assessed, pulling out all his medical training. But she was still loosing quite a bit of blood. Other then listening between gun shots, he paid those men little attention, focused on helping the wounded. When it appeared there were no more shots, he slid across the floor, reaching her and doing his best to pull her out of harm's way. Removing his hoodie, he pressed it against her wound. She groaned and panted in pain, but her hand gripped at his leg appreciatively.

Looking around, he saw there were others wounded. Although the shooting had stopped, he could see the two men were still in the area, though their fighting had seemed to move to hand-on-hand combat. "Oi! You!" Merlin hissed, getting the attention of a man hiding behind a pop machine not but four feet away. The man looked at him with frightened eyes. "Yes, you, come here!"

The man came over, and Merlin instructed him to put pressure on the wound. He tried to make his way to another victim just across the way, but as he did he saw something out of the corner of his eye. The burned man was moving quickly in their direction, and his gaze seemed fix upon Merlin himself. Merlin tried to get away but someone's dropped belongings underfoot caused him to fall. He tried backpedaling; hands scrambling at the ground as he moved backwards while attempting to get to his feet at the same time, heart pounding as the burned man closed in on him.

In the next second, that very man was simply _flying_ through the air, arms flailing. The blond with the electric blue eyes had grabbed him from behind and threw him _several feet away_ \- right onto the tube tracks. The burned man landed on his feet, as if not thrown at all. He growled like an animal, and then took off in a flash down the tracks. The blond didn't spare Merlin a second glance, and dashed off to follow the man he had been fighting.

When Merlin arrived late at the hospital, he was not scolded as he normally was. He figured it was probably the blood on his hands, and the terrified look in his eyes, that let them know that something very serious indeed had gone down.

The news about the tube attack, and the police escort to work, probably also helped save Merlin his position.

***

It was certainly a good thing that not many human passersby would find themselves in a deep abandoned tunnel of Camelot's tube system. They'd be more than shocked if they would've stumbled upon the group of men that circled the fight; they would have been even more shocked to see just _what_ was fighting rather then the event itself. The outer circle was composed of big, bulky men, many with shaggy hair who yelled intensely as they cheered on the fighters.

The fighters themselves did not appear to be humans. They were morphed into something bigger. Their faces were grotesque versions of a wolf - long snout with huge razor sharp teeth as they snapped at each other. The claws on their hands were long and sharp, slicing through air and skin. Their grayish-black skin rippled over large muscle. There were harsh growls coming from them, mingling amongst the jeers of the watchers, blending into one wave of animalistic noise.

However, the fight was quickly brought to an end; not by a winner but by the sound of a shotgun. All the watchers fell silent as it echoed through the air, each shifting uncomfortably as they saw Lancelot approach them; his gun dropping down to the side after being pointed at the roof, and he swung his arm almost casually.

The two lycans in the middle of the fight grew smaller and smaller, their wolfish features slipping away until two naked sweaty men stood there, cuts and blood covering their bodies from the fight. They panted laboured breaths from their exertion. Each could barely meet Lancelot's eyes, their own shifted to the ground almost bashfully. Not a look that came naturally or often to a lycan, but in front of their respected leader, there was nothing else they could do.

Lancelot paused in front of them, staring them down, and his gaze sweeping over the rest of the men. He was almost calm at first, his voice raising only slightly with the end of the sentence, "Gentleman, this behaviour is _unbecoming_." His nostrils flared for a moment, but then he took a deep breath. He said in an even tone that still demanded respect, "And that just will not do."

He looked around again. All of them were quiet, giving him the utmost attention. He continued, "Especially not if you expect to be beat the vampires. Not if you expect to survive." He looked at the two fighters, face much softer with almost a hint of humour as he raised an eyebrow. "Now, get dressed, will you?"

Two heads hung almost sheepishly, but they nodded and moved off to the side. With one more glance around, the group began to dissipate and the lycans drifted off. Lancelot took his leave and returned to what he privately referred to as his 'office' - though it was not much more than a hovel in the underground.

Upon arrival there, Lancelot was greeted by Edwin.

"Sir," Edwin said, his head bowing in a sign of respect. Edwin had been at Lancelot's side for a long time, being nearly as old as the leader. Edwin's hatred of vampires was stronger than almost any lycan Lancelot knew. A lot of that spawned from one of their first battles fought with freedom, nearly six centuries ago, where Edwin suffered burns so deep that even his immortal body could not heal them. Although, Edwin was more than happy to tell of the battle and the four vampires that went down in the burning building while Edwin himself was able to escape. In more private moments, Edwin would admit he liked the burns - reminders of the evils of vampires and why they must be extinguished.

Lancelot was usually very happy with Edwin's work in the war; but now he glanced across the room over at the board and its chains, and saw that there was no body strapped there. "Merlin?"

Edwin shook his head. "He... escaped."

"Escaped? How could he have escaped _you_?"

Edwin's arms were drawn across his stomach, hands pushed up into the opposite sleeve of his trench coat. The hood was up over his head, but his eyes met Lancelot's firmly. "There were Knights," Edwin answered smoothly, voice silky and calm - a stark contrast to the power that lay within him. "Two of them. I got one," he continued, pride seeping into his voice. "The new bullets work wonders."

"Did they know?" Lancelot asked sharply. At this point, he didn't care about the new weaponry. "Did they know what you were after?"

"No, I do not believe so," Edwin answered. "You know he can't see what is right in front of him, that Arthur--"

Lancelot sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. With a strained voice he asked, " _Arthur_ was there?" he

"As I said, Lancelot, he did not know--"

"He is not an idiot," Lancelot snapped. "If anyone were to figure it out, it will be the prince."

"You give him far too much credit."

"You do not give him enough."

Gaius entered the room then, a small amused expression playing on his lips. "Did I hear you correctly?" he said, going over to the table. He started to fix up vials, putting them up right and shuffling them around. "Arthur ruined your plans?"

"Shut up, _vampire_ ," Edwin said, eyes shooting daggers at the other creature. Lancelot knew Edwin had little patience with his treaty with this one; though the importance of it was explained to him. Repeatedly.

"Lancelot is correct, you should not underestimate Arthur," Gaius said. "He is likely to bring down your whole plan if you do."

"He hasn't figured out _you_ yet, has he?" Edwin prompted, pointing out Gaius' own betrayal of his kind. Working alongside lycans would get the vampire killed, were it to be discovered. "He won't figure out this out either."

Lancelot interjected, "Enough." He was in no mood for this right now, mind distracted with the thoughts of their plan being revealed. "I will go and get this Merlin."

"Sir!" Edwin protested. "It is too risky, you shouldn't expose yourself that way."

The vampires believed Lancetlot had been killed over three hundred years earlier. It was a well kept secret of the lycans. The vampires were silly and naive to cling on to their history; pompous enough that they believed they knew everything. Lancelot had kept his distance from Camelot as a method of survival; it was in the past few months that he returned, and he kept a very low profile. Something he had perfected well over the centuries.

Edwin continued, "I will do this--"

"-- Clearly, if I want something done right, I will have to do it myself," Lancelot interjected, voice a bit cold. Edwin's head bowed in reverence, even though Lancelot could tell he was not pleased about this. Lancelot stated, "You and Alvarr will accompany me."

Alvarr was another one of Lancelot's foremost trusted lieutenants. The two, rather then competing for Lancelot's approval, worked well along side each other. Both were in the best of graces with the lycan leader.

"As you wish," Edwin said. "I will get Alvarr, and we will fetch this Merlin Emrys."

Gaius rolled his eyes. "Oh, do watch yourself. The boy needs to come here in one piece."

Lancelot smirked. "I'm sure Edwin will be extra careful."

Edwin's cold chuckle filled the room.

 

***

Arthur's sleek silver Maserati GT sped through the gates of the compound, with gravel flying across the green moist grass as the tires spun to a stop. He got out of the car and slammed the door shut, stalking up the steps into the manor. The mansion had a castle facade with stone walls and faux battlements and was home to the Pendragon coven.

The common rooms where populated with the members of the vampire court who ranged in age, though most were frozen in time as young adults, and all eternally beautiful. Their gothic clothing was splashed with occasional crimson red or deep purple, with dark lace and leather abundant. Many of the vampires held goblets or wine glasses filled with the dark warmed blood of livestock.

Arthur paid no mind to any of them, his long trench coat brushing against the ankles of his black boots as he made a quick and steady pace through the manor.

He stormed into the armory, walking purposefully to the front table. There, Leon was very carefully and attentively cleaning guns. He paused to glance up and look at Arthur.

Arthur's lips were pressed into an agitated line. He slammed a gun, foreign to the vampire inventory, onto the table in front of Leon. "We have a problem."

Leon picked up the gun and looked it over; it did not look out of the ordinary for a gun. He did not look convinced or impressed. "Where did you get it?"

"From the lycans," Arthur said. "Eject the cartridge."

When Leon did, he found that the bullets were unlike anything he'd ever seen. Inside a plastic casing was a glowing blue liquid. "What is that?" Leon asked, taking a pair of piers and carefully grasping one of the bullets, holding it up to get a better look.

"Ultra-violet light, harnessed as a weapon," Arthur answered grimly. "We lost Ewan to it."

The image flashed before Arthur's eyes. In the tube station, he'd seen the bullet hit Ewan. It was an immediate reaction, eating the vampire from the inside out, his skin cracking and burning until it all disintegrated. Unlike normal bullets, which could be dug out and only slowed them slightly, there did not seem to be a defense against these newly engineered ones.

"Must be military," Leon said.

"You think?"

Leon snorted. "There are no way those lycans were able to create such a weapon. They must have stolen it."

"Perhaps," Arthur said. He allowed, "Edwin is cunning."

Leon laughed even more. "The burned one was there? Must've been a serious fight. Did you finally get the bugger? You've been hunting him for centuries."

Arthur frowned. "I followed him through the tunnels but he escaped." Arthur paused a moment, wondering if he should mention ... "I heard something – it sounded as if dozens of lycans were gathered. I did not find them, however." Arthur was smarter than that; there was no way he would've been able to take on dozens of lycans by himself.

A voice greeted them from a side door, light and feminine but scorning. "Dozens? Really, Arthur?" Morgana asked. She stepped into the room, joining their conversation. "That's simply ridiculous."

Leon added, "There hasn't been a den of that magnitude since the days of Lancelot."

"I know what I heard," Arthur snapped.

"Your Knights have hunted them down to the brink of extinction," Morgana said with a tone to placate him. Arthur headed the Knights, a team whose purpose was to provide security for the vampire coven, though primarily they hunted down lycans.

"That's what we're going for," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "But I know what I heard, and it's a matter that must be investigated thoroughly. Which is why I'm taking a team back down there right now."

"No, you're not," Morgana said, unperturbed.

Arthur snorted. "You have no authority over my decisions."

"Perhaps not," Morgana said. "But Uther left you in charge while he is away, and part of that is taking up his duties. Greeting the arrival of our guests, perhaps?"

Arthur cursed under his breath. Tonight, members of Bayard coven would arrive, and there would be the usual ceremonial speeches. Bayard would arrive a night's time, and Alined was due in two nights time, for next week's Treaty Negotiations.A It was an event that occurred amongst the three vampire covens once every fifty years, unless something very important came up that called for an emergency session. It was all symbolic now, with nothing to re-negotiate any further, but the vampire clans would not be deterred from this tradition. Not even tracking down lycans could prevent it from happening.

"Has Uther arrived back yet?" Arthur asked, though he already knew the answer to that. (Morgana's sly smile confirmed it.) Uther's travels would not bring him back to the following evening; and even then, he would be taking his Repose for a day, locked up in his coffin. Such a distance traveled by boat, with little access to provisions, required rest, rejuvenation and a strong infusion of blood. Uthur had not wanted to be gone on business so close to the Treaty Negotiations, but he had no other choice; there was no one he trusted enough to go in his place to represent the coven's best interest. However, he did entrust the day to day duties to his heir, Arthur.

 

The arrival of the coven guests had slipped Arthur's mind, having been so caught up in the events of the evening with the lycans. He finally took in Morgana's wardrobe; she was wearing a finer dress then usual, long and flowing and made of the most expensive silk. Her long dark hair was pinned up, a few curls cascading down her back. She wore age-old jewels that were only brought out for special occasions.

He sighed to himself, but tilted his head. "Of course," he conceded. He glanced over at Leon. "You will take a team."

"Yes, Arthur," the other Knight answered.

"Good," Morgana said with one sharp clap of hands. She eyed Arthur, and smirked. "You may want to change out of the dominatrix outfit." She often mocked the leather Arthur and his knights wore when on a mission.

"I suppose I should be wearing chainmail, then?" he retorted. "Perhaps some armour. That won't stand out _at all_ ," he muttered dryly. She just grinned slyly and he should his head and waved her off.

After instructing Leon on where the fight had taken place and where to look for the lycan den, he took his leave to change.

However, his mind could not leave the events of the evening. He was shocked at the attack of the lycans, once they had realized that vampires were tracking them. Rarely would lycans attack in open like that; though, in recent months, it was occurring more and more. Arthur was convinced they were after something, and they were distracting the vampires by trying to kill them. As the Knights had them nearly extinct, the lycans should be on the defense, not on the offense.

It served to support his idea and findings that there _must_ be more of them now, and they were up to something. It could not be overlooked.

Instead of preparing for the speeches, Arthur found himself in front of his computer. He'd hacked into the surveillance system of Camelot's underground tube system. Bless humans and their fear of each other and their need to stalk anyone and everyone.

He was able to find the images that lead up to moments before the fight broke out with Edwin. He watched it, over and over, as Edwin descended the steps to the station's platform. He saw himself follow Edwin mere seconds later.

"My god," Arthur said to himself, zooming in to seconds before Edwin went down. There, in a dark hood pulled over his eyes, was a tall, thin man with a gentle, pleasant face. Edwin could not take his eyes off of him; he was tracking him.

Searching his memories, he recognized the man on the platform as having been present when the fight broke out. And, right before he'd thrown Edwin onto the tracks – yes, Edwin had been going after the man.

"He wants you," he said to the man on the screen. He used a face recognition program (thank you, Camelot's Police Department), and found the man's name – Merlin Emrys – and his address.

Just then, Morgana entered the room. "Time to go downstairs, Arthur--" She paused as she took in the site of Arthur, who was throwing on his long coat and holstering his gun. She said flatly, "You've not changed."

"I'm not going," Arthur said urgently. "Uthur favours you next in line after me, so you can take over the duties. Plus," he added with a cheeky grin, "you're so beautiful. They like you better anyway."

"Oh, no you don't, Arthur!" Morgana exclaimed. "You're not shirking this duty and handing it off to me. Uther will not be pleased."

"He will understand," Arthur said confidently. "The lycans, they are up to something."

"Oh, for the love of -- Will you not give up on the lycans for _one night_?" Morgana asked, exasperated. "You're nearly as strong as Uther in your dislike for them."

"They're after a human," Arthur said, pointing to his computer screen. "They're up to something, and I will find out what."

"Oh, good," Morgana said sarcastically. "Lycans _and_ humans. This gets better and better."

He brushed past Morgana, ignoring her protests. There was no stopping him from trying to reach Merlin Emrys before the lycans did.

 

***

Merlin Emrys had had a terribly long day. Incident at the tube platform or not, he was still expected to completed his duties at the hospital. He was on one of his final threads and could not risk anything else to jeopardize all his hard work, so he had carried on with his shift, and had been praised for his performance in the surgery.

This was enough to at least get his bone weary body back to his flat, the praise carrying him home. (Though he had used a taxi for transportation this time as he just couldn't make himself go back to the tube station quite yet.)

The building was not a fine one and the lift was old and slow and rickety. But as he arrived at his floor a sudden rush of relief spread through his body; he was looking forward to collapsing onto his bed and sleeping until the next time he had to go into the hospital.

However, something was off as he approached his flat. The door was ajar. As run-down as this building was, the area seemed safe enough and he'd never had any problem with burglars before. The relief turned to anger and he approached his apartment impulsively; rather than carefully assess the situation, he wanted to go in and knock out whoever was in there, just so he could go to sleep!

"Hello?" he called out, opening the door. He peeked his head inside and glanced around, not seeing anyone there. It was a bachelor flat, so unless the burglar stopped to use the loo it wasn't likely they would be in there.

Merlin pushed the door open and was glad to find that he didn't actually have to confront anyone. Just as he began to relax he was caught off guard.

Within a second he found himself pinned against the wall by a strength he certainly didn't possess. He feet were at least a foot off the floor, trying to find purchase as he struggled against his attacker.

"Why do they want you?"

Merlin glanced down at his attacker, his hands grabbing at the arm that held him up against the wall. All he could take notice of was piercing blue eyes boring into his own. A demanding voice asked again, "Why do they want you?"

Merlin gasped, "Put me down. Can't—breath."

The spell of the blue eyes broke as the man blinked, and they seemed to dull to something more… _human_.

"Oh," he said. His hand pulled away from Merlin's neck. Merlin slipped down the wall until his feet found the ground and he nearly stumbled over. The man's apology came rather insincere, "Sorry for that."

"Sorry?" Merlin gasped, glancing up with a scowl on his face. "You nearly asphyxiate me to death, and _that_ is what you say?"

The blond man smirked. "I apologized, didn't I?"

"It's not what you said, it's how you said it!" Merlin exclaimed, righting himself.

"Don't be such a _girl_ ," the man said, rolling his eyes. "It wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't needed to breathe."

Merlin's jaw dropped as he stared at the man; the fact this was a trespasser who broke into his flat had escaped his mind and he could only focus on what a jerk he was. Merlin exclaimed, "Of course I need to breathe, you prat! What were you thinking?"

"Obviously, I forgot--"

Merlin cut him off, " _Obviously_."

The blond man's casual arrogance turned into irritation and he scowled at Merlin. "Do not address me that way," the man said.

"Just who do you think you are, a _prince_?" Merlin scoffed. "And what are you doing in my flat!"

Apparently that was not the right thing to say; Merlin found himself pinned against the wall again, though this time he was allowed to keep his feet on the floor and he was able to breathe.

The intruder questioned, "Why are they after you?"

"Who?" Merin asked, confused. He tried to push the other man away, but it was as if he was a marble statue -- he would not budge.

"The lycans," he answered. "They were tracking you down in the tube."

"The what now?" Merlin asked. "No one was after me."

The bright blue eyes were back and they held Merlin's gaze again. "Are you certain about that?"

Merlin wasn't entirely certain but he wasn't about to give this man the satisfaction of saying otherwise. He was about to attempt to push him away again when they were startled away by a large bang on the ceiling. The already weak plaster began to crack, pieces of it falling to the floor from the brute force. Merlin could swear he heard growling and it almost sounded like wolves.

Merlin exclaimed, "What the hell?"

But the man didn't answer him, and within a second, was starting to shoot at the ceiling.

"You!" Merlin exclaimed. It had escaped him the previous moments, what with being pinned to a wall and suffocating, and then getting into a petty argument with the prat. But that was enough to trigger his memory – the sight of the man in the long black trench coat, face schooled with an eased concentration as he pointed his _gun_ and began shooting.

It was the same man that had been in the tube station earlier.

With that realization, Merlin did the only thing he could do – he ran.

He slipped out of the apartment, likely unnoticed by the man too busy shooting up his ceiling, his arms flailing as he ran down the hall. He pressed on the button to the lift repeatedly, as if that would somehow speed it up.

Luckily for him, it was only a moment before the door opened. He could hear his name being called, but he got into the lift and pressed the Close Door button with as much force as he could.

**

"What a bloody idiot!"

Arthur did not find himself all that much impressed with the idiot human named Merlin Emrys. The man had mocked him then _ran away_ when Arthur was clearly trying to save him. Stupid!

Shooting at the ceiling had stopped the lycans from crashing into Merlin's flat but Arthur knew better than that – they were obviously after the man and the mangy dogs would not be deterred until they were very hurt or very dead. Either would work out just fine for Arthur.

Arthur rushed into the hall, spinning around just in time to see Merlin enter the lift.

Hearing growling, he looked back at the opposite end of the hall, and he could see two men entering the building through the window. Arthur recognized them both as lycans, one of whom being one he had fought earlier that evening. That the dog was not off licking his earlier battle wounds only confirmed what Arthur already knew – they were very determined to get this human.

The two men started to transform into their supernatural state, bodies becoming bigger and snouts beginning to grow as their eyes flashed gold. He shot in their direction, but they were ready for it, easily maneuvering as their morphing continued.

It was a pain in the arse that the moon no longer held her sway over the lycans, and that they could transform whenever they bloody well wanted to. Things would've been so much easier in the old days.

With no other way out, Arthur did the only thing he could do – he began to shoot rapidly at the floor. The shooting was fast, much too quick for a human's eyes, and each shot was aimed precisely. With one jump up and a mighty push off the ceiling, Arthur used his supernatural strength to slam back down into the weakened floor.

The floor came crashing down through the next two, the piece Arthur was traveling on finally hitting the lobby. Arthur stood up straight, not injured or even jostled from the journey down. He stepped off the rubble, brushing a bit of dust of his shoulder as he did.

He looked back down the hall, and he saw a man – no, a lycan – standing before the lift just as it opened.

"No," he muttered in disbelief under his breath. He recognized that lycan, though he had not seen him for over three centuries. It was his belief – all the vampires belief – that Lancelot was dead.

With his supernatural hearing, he heard Lancelot say as the door opened, "Hello, Merlin Emrys."

Arthur opened fire.

**

It was a remarkable coincidence, the elevator door opening up as if they were the pearly white gates of heaven. Lancelot knew he'd never see those, and Merlin was no winged angel to greet him, but nevertheless he was the closest thing to salvation that Lancelot would ever come across. And so conveniently, as well.

Lancelot could not conceal his grin. "Hello, Merlin Emrys."

Merlin's eyes went wide with fear; he did not know Lancelot, they had never met before, but he was surely aware that he was being hunted. It was smart of him to fear Lancelot at this time, though Lancelot didn't want any real harm to come to the man.

Lancelot was reaching out for him when alerted by a gunshot, but he was not quick enough to avoid the searing pain of silver entering into his shoulder, and in quick succession, one into his side.

Lancelot lurched forward to the cowering human; Merlin had begun to back up into the corner, automatically looking for an escape but one would not be found in this tiny metal box. Lancelot acted fast; with a Knight shooting at him, there was only one thing he could do.

He grabbed Merlin roughly, tumbling forward until they both fell to the cold floor. He gripped the back of Merlin's head and pulled him forward, and bit hard into Merlin's neck. Lancelot did not do this often; lycans did not crave blood the same way vampires did. His canines sank into Merlin's soft skin, his pulse beating rapidly beneath. The human cried out, his body arching in obvious pain.

Lancelot was suddenly jarred from Merlin's body, with a kick to Lancelot's leg that was still outside the elevator door. He rolled onto his back. Lancelot glanced up and looked into the eyes of the vampire called Arthur, of the Pendragon coven.

Arthur's vampire-blue eyes stared down at Lancelot, a grim set to his jaw. His gun was pointed out in front of him; yet, he paused. Lancelot was sure that under any other circumstances, Arthur would put a silver bullet through any lycan's head. But Lancelot grinned, feeling the rivulet of blood dribble from the corner of his mouth and down his chin. It wasn't every day you could throw off little prince Arthur.

Merlin Emrys was also able to claim that honour today, it seemed. The human jumped up, and nearly tripping over Lancelot's legs, fumbled out of the lift with adrenaline-fueled strength and pushed Arthur aside. He took off running though he was unknowingly heading right towards the howls of Edwin and Alvarr. Lancelot heard Arthur swear under his breath and take off after the human, not sparing Lancelot another glance.

Lancelot struggled to a sitting position, which was difficult given with the silver bullets lodged in his body. His hand dove into the inside pocket of his coat, pulling out one of Gaius' little glass vials.

Lancelot backwashed the mouthful of blood into the little vial, put the stopper on it, and put it back safely into his coat.

He removed the coat carefully, holding it in one hand. The pain of the silver bedded within his skin was too much to carry on as he'd like. He used his lycan strength, eyes flashing gold, ad his body started to morph into something bigger. He kept it at bay, not fully transforming, just had it ripple underneath his skin and used the muscles for his means. He grunted and groaned with the pain, but used that strength to push the silver bullets back out their entry wounds. One popped out of his side, falling with a little _clink_ onto the floor. The one out of his shoulder soon followed.

It only took seconds, and when the silver was out of his body he allowed his human form to take over again, though the entry wounds continued to knit over. He calmly put the jacket back on and stepped out of the elevator.

Edwin approached him, shirtless, the bullet wounds covering his torso also beginning to fade into the mess of scars already there. He said to Lancelot, "Alvarr has gone after their car. Arthur has the human now."

Lancelot nodded his head, and could not keep in his smile. "That is all right," he said. "I got what I came for. As long as Alvarr doesn't kill Emrys, all will be well."

**

Arthur pushed Merlin into the front seat of his car, easily manhandling him in though the human was trying to resist. Arthur slammed the door shut, and within a second was around the other side and in his own door, pushing down on the locks before Merlin could try to escape.

"You might want to buckle up," he told Merlin, grabbing for his own seatbelt. Merlin followed his lead. Turning the car on, Arthur put it into gear and slammed down on the gas pedal.

Following Arthur's suggestion was the end of the human's passiveness. Within seconds, Merlin was yelling at him. "What is going on? Why are people attacking me? _Why_ do you keep shooting everyone? What the bloody hell is going on?"

Arthur said calmly, "Shut up."

That did not go over well. "I will not, you prat-"

"Arthur."

That did actually shut Merlin up. He glanced over dumbstruck. "What?"

"My name," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "Try using it."

Merlin didn't have a chance to use it quite that moment, as there was a sudden slam on the roof of Arthur's car.

"I swear to god, if they hurt my car--" Arthur muttered as he sharply pulled on the steering wheel, swerving the car and trying to get whoever was on it to tumble off.

Suddenly, a sword sliced through the roof.

"Damn it!" Arthur yelled, in tune with Merlin's, "Bloody hell!"

Arthur tried swerving, but the blade shoved through the roof again. Arthur cried out in pain as it embedded into his shoulder. The blade pulled back out, and the next time it came back awfully close to Merlin's head.

Arthur slammed on the brakes, and the body on top of the car rolled forward with the sudden impact. The body skidded across the road, rolling a few times before landing before stopping flat on its face. The large blade flew across the pavement, stopping but a foot away from an open manhole.

Arthur backed up the car about a hundred meters and come to a sudden stop. "What are you going to do?" Merlin asked him, wide-eyed as he stared at Arthur.

Arthur ignored him, eyes focused on the man on the road. The man stood up, and Arthur could see it was one of the lycans who had attacked Merlin's building. The lycan – Alvarr, Arthur remembered from past reconnaissance – bared his teeth in a savage smile and charged the car.

Arthur hit on the gas, the car revving forward at a remarkably fast speed.

"What -- you can't run him over!" Merlin yelled, bracing one hand on the dashboard.

"Watch me," Arthur answered, eyes never off of the lycan.

As it turned out, the lycan wasn't exactly run over. He was rammed with the bumper, causing him to hit the roof and fly backwards through the air. He landed on his feet and immediately tried to chase down the car.

The lycan fell behind once Arthur hit an open freeway. Merlin, who'd been watching open-mouthed like a fool, turned to look at Arthur.

"What was _that_?" he asked, dumbstruck.

Arthur glanced in his direction and smirked. "Just another day's work."

***

Merlin had no idea what was happening to the world. First, the tube was attacked, then his flat, then some guy bit him, and _then_ this Arthur showed up like some knight in shining armour and saved him. Only to proceed to run some other guy over.

Merlin was having trouble processing it so he focused on what he knew.

"You're bleeding," he said, reaching over to touch Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur flinched out of the way, shooting him a scowl. "I'm fine."

"You're losing a lot of blood," Merlin pointed out. "You'll lose consciousness, and after all that, I don't want to die because you're an idiot who drives into a building because he bled out."

Arthur snorted. "Believe me, I'm fine."

Merlin shook his head. "After everything that's happened today, I might just believe that."

Arthur cast his a glance. "What do you know of what happened today?"

Merlin shrugged. "Other than everyone has gone mad? Not that much."

"All right," Arthur said. "What do you know about supernatural creatures?"

For the first time in hours, possibly days, Merlin laughed. He had a huge grin across his face as he looked over at Arthur. "Supernatural creatures? Aside from that American telly show? Not that much. They aren't real."

Arthur was quiet for a moment. "Do you really believe that, even now? Even after everything you've seen?"

Merlin had seen a lot that day, yes. But supernatural creatures? Like… Like… "Like what?" he asked aloud.

But he never got an answer, because that arrogant prat Arthur decided to loose consciousness, even after Merlin had warned him. Merlin yelled out, "Arthur!" but that did not wake him.

The car was heading towards the docks, and though Merlin tried to gain control, his reflexes hadn't been fast enough. They hit a concrete block, and the car went flying into the water.

**

Unsurprisingly, Lancelot found Gaius in his little laboratory that he had set up in the lycan den. Gaius looked up and found Lancelot, Edwin, and Alvarr all enter but did not see the human that they had gone after.

"Did he escape again?" Gaius asked, unable to contain his bemused expression. "Is this man made of magic?"

"Very funny, old man," Alvarr drawled, walking over to stand in front of the genetic map on the wall. "I swear, I will kill that Pendragon if it's the last thing I do."

Gaius clapped his hands. "Arthur? _Again_?"

"Does not matter," Lancelot said smoothly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial. "I have Emrys' blood."

"Do you?" Gaius asked, coming over and taking the vial carefully. "Dare I ask how you retrieved it?"

"Does it really matter?"

Gaius raised an eyebrow. "I suppose it doesn't." Without being told, he went over to his workbench and prepared the test.

"I wish I had more," Gaius commented, just as he was dropping some of Merlin's blood into the large test tube of solvent. "It would have made for a more thorough test."

They watched as the blood mixed in, and the liquid in the tube become a bright purple. Gaius stood up straight, almost in shock, and looked at the lycan leader.

Gaius announced, "Positive. This is a positive match."

In the background, Alvarr whooped, throwing a hand up into the air. A calculating smile crossed Edwin's features. And Lancelot had a rare, genuine smile grace his face.

"So it is. We have our man."

"No we don't," Gaius reminded him. "He escaped you again. We must have him back. Our work is not done!"

Lancelot clasped Gaius' shoulder. "Do not worry, vampire. I have tasted his blood." Lancelot nodded in confirmation at the old vampire's raised eyebrow. "Tomorrow, he will be one of us. And he will seek us out."

**

The car was submerged in water. There were cracks in the windows and Merlin knew it was only a matter of seconds before the pressure broke the window and water would rush in.

Merlin acted as quickly as he could, releasing his seatbelt and then reaching over for Arthur's. "Oh, I'm fine," he muttered sarcastically under his breath. "I'm a prat but I'm just _fine_."

He grabbed Arthur's body, one arm around him. With the other hand, he grabbed Arthur's gun. "Only you could make me use one of these things," Merlin muttered under his breath. But he aimed at the cracking window and pulled the trigger.

Maneuvering two people out the window of the flooded car had been a struggle, one he wasn't sure he could overcome but Merlin gave it everything he had. Finally, Merlin broke the surface with a large gasp, air rushing into his lungs. His arms were tight around Arthur's torso, keeping the unconscious man held close. It was difficult, and he struggled with Arthur's dead weight, but he was able to get them to shore. Pulling them under the dock, hopefully out of sight of curious eyes – or ones trying to track them down and kill them.

Once on shore, Merlin's hand brushed his forehead, hand coming away with smears of thick red blood. "Shit," he muttered, but turned his focus onto the body before him. He expertly pumped on Arthur's chest, and the other man sputtered, spitting out water. His eyes drifted open for a second, dazed and looking at Merlin, but he faded back to sleep.

Merlin pushed the shoulder of Arthur's shirt aside, examining the wound. It… didn't look at deep as it should. "Weird," Merlin muttered, memory recalling just how badly the sword (a sword, for crying out loud!) had gone into him.

Nevertheless, Merlin ripped off a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around Arthur's shoulder, doing what he could to stop any bleeding. Once Arthur was taken care off, Merlin tried to check out his own wound on his lower neck.

"God," he muttered, feeling it. It was almost like a dog's bite, but that made no sense. He made a makeshift bandage for that as well, and then collapsed onto the sand next to Arthur.

He tried to keep his eyes open but Merlin too fell unconscious.

***

Arthur paced the room, one hand up to his mouth while his finger tapped on his upper lip. When he returned to the castle, he had hidden away in his chambers as the dawn was coming too soon. The thick wood shutters were closed shut with heavy velvet black drapes pulled over them.

Merlin lay unconscious on the couch. Arthur hadn't let anyone into the room to see him for it was too dangerous for Merlin. They wouldn't understand; Arthur himself scarcely understood why he was taking such a risk by bringing Merlin to the mansion. But he could hear Merlin's heartbeat and the air entering in and out of his lungs. Other than some twitching and thrashing about and some muttering in his sleep, it seemed the human was fine.

When Arthur had awoke from his slumber he immediately checked on Merlin but found he slept still. Arthur tried to wake him up but Merlin would only open his eyes momentarily, rolling them back in his head and muttering nonsense, then fell back to sleep. That was when Arthur began to pace. He tried to sit at his computer and work, but he could only focus for brief minutes before standing up and resuming his path back and forth across the room.

He could hear the rest of the mansion starting to wake up with the darkness that settled over them. Arthur didn't need as much sleep as the others and he was often the first up. He could hear the rustling through the halls, the pouring of blood into goblets, the quiet murmurs of conversation.

And there was no way he could miss Morgana crashing into his chambers -- without knocking, as usual.

"Uther's back," she announced as a way of greeting.

"I know," Arthur said. Due to the whole issue of fighting with lycans, dealing with a human, accidentally crashing a car into the river, waking up on the sand with Merlin passed out beside him, and getting them both back to safety before dawn, he had missed Uther's arrival back to the manor. But he knew that Uther had returned, though would continue to be slumber until the next night.

"He wasn't pleased you weren't here to greet him," Morgana said with a small smile.

"I was otherwise occupied," Arthur said shortly.

"And now you won't be able to talk to him until after he wakes," Morgana pointed out. She went over to the window and drew back the drapes, opening the shutters.

"Yes, Morgana," Arthur said, exasperated. "I'm well aware of this."

"What _he_ isn't aware of is that _you_ have a human hiding out in your room," Morgana said. She walked from the window and over to behind the couch. She leaned over and reached out to brush the hair off Merlin's forehead, but within an instant Arthur was at her side, grabbing her wrist.

"Protective, are we?" Morgana asked with a sly smile, pulling her hand away from Arthur. "He is rather cute. For a human."

"Enough, Morgana," he warned.

She barely spared Arthur a glance and looked down at Merlin again. She closed her eyes, her hand reaching out to hovering over him but did not touch. She opened her eyes, the stunning bright blue of a vampire, and looked down at Merlin just as he shifted and moaned slightly, opening his own eyes.

They weren't their usual colour, but instead a deep gold had taken over the whole of them. They were the eyes of a lycan.

Morgana gasped and stepped away. Merlin growled lowly and rolled onto his side but he drifted to sleep again.

"He's been bitten," Morgana hissed at Arthur.

He answered grimly, "I'm aware."

"He can't be here!" Morgana insisted. "You're breaking the Codes by having him here at the castle!"

"I'm aware," Arthur repeated. He gave a sarcastic smile. "And you'll never believe who bit him."

"Who?"

"Lancelot."

Morgana threw her head back and laughed. "Don't be ridiculous," she said. "Lancelot has been dead for centuries."

"Apparently not," Arthur answered. "I saw him with my own eyes."

"You're mistaken," Morgana said. "Uther has said--"

Arthur cut her off. "I'm aware of what my father has -- does -- believe. It brings me no pleasure to bring him this news." In fact, Arthur was nearly dreading it, but he knew it must be reported to Uther. Something was quite amiss and their king needed to know.

Morgana remained silent for a moment, studying him. "He may not believe you."

Arthur nodded. "I know. It's… we were fooled, somehow, by those lycans. For centuries!" His voice was getting angrier and angrier. "I will get to the bottom of this."

Morgana held up a calming hand. "Of course you will, Arthur," she said, and for once she sounded supportive. "I have no doubt of it."

"Thank you," he replied. "I do have to figure out what to do about Merlin."

"Merlin?" Morgana said. She glanced over to the couch. "Oh, yes. Your lycan."

"Don't call him that, he's not _my_ anything."

She raised one eyebrow. "He's your responsibility now that you've brought him here. Which was an incredibly stupid move, I might add." She walked smoothly to the door. "And if you were smart, you'd get him out of here immediately."

"I have something to do first," Arthur said. "But I'll take it under advisement."

"Be smart and listen to me for once, would you? You know that even consorting with one of them weighs heavy punishment; harbouring one means death."

"I know."

"I don't think he'd even let _you_ get away with this--"

" _Morgana_ ," Arthur huffed. He waved a hand impatiently. "You can go now."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she added before she slipped out the door, not letting Arthur get another word in.

As Arthur glanced at the sleeping man, he knew there was truth in Morgana's words.

**

Morgana walked quickly down the street. The hood of her long cape was pulled over her head, the ends of it trailing after her in the wind. The street was dark, with many street lights broken and no longer working. She jotted amongst the discarded rubble and descended down stone steps.

Valiant, her most trusted Knight guard, was just steps behind her. His strong bulk moved with unexpected grace as he followed her closely.

Morgana stopped in front of what appeared to be an abandoned building and nodded back to Valiant. He entered the building and did a quick sweep of it. A few seconds later, he was standing in front of her.

"It's safe, my lady," he said with a nod of his head.

"Thank you, Valiant," she said quietly, bushing back the hood of her cape. The moonlight made her pale skin glow. "He should be here momentarily."

"I will wait until he arrives."

She nodded, knowing that telling him otherwise would fall upon deaf ears. They stood in the middle of the room, as still as statues, though Valiant gripped a gun in each hand. They remained still even as they heard the door open and shut with a bang.

It was when he entered the room that Morgana rushed over to Alvarr. He swept her up in his arms, crushing her tiny frame to his muscular one.

"Love," he said, brushing a kiss to her forehead. "I'm glad you made it here safely."

Valiant answered, "I would not allow anything else."

"I didn't ask you," Alvarr hissed, glaring at the vampire.

"Now, now, boys," Morgana said coyly, a hand rested on Alvarr's chest. "There is no need to fight over little old me."

"We'll tolerate each other," Alvarr said, smiling at her. "For you. Though, I would much prefer he left us alone."

"I will not leave--"

"Valiant, please," Morgana said, looking over at her bodyguard. "It's all right. Will you please wait for me outside?"

He did not look happy with it but did as he was asked. If only because the next step would have been to ordered him to.

Once alone, Alvarr kissed Morgana passionately. "I've missed you," he said as he pulled away. He buried his face into her hair, breathing in deeply.

"Soon, Alvarr," Morgana said to him. One hand slipped into her dress pocket, and pulled out a flash drive. She pressed it into his hand. "We'll be able to be together when this is all over."

"No more secret meetings," he said. One hand gripped the little device full of crucial information while the other cupped her cheek. "No more living under the tyranny of Uther of the Pendragon coven." He had a feral grin on his face. "Not that I have for several centuries. But you will be free as well."

"And that day can not come soon enough," Morgana agreed. "But, please, let us talk of other things."

Alvarr leered at her. "Or perhaps we don't have to talk at all."

"I don't know how much time we have."

"We have enough for that," Alvarr insisted.

"Uther will be expecting me soon," she said. Adding casually, "And I'm sure Lancelot will be expecting you."

She could feel the arms encircling her tense up at the mention of the lycan leader. He pulled back, to look into her face, his own a blank mask. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She huffed, and pulled away from him. "You expect me to share our secrets, to help you, and you will not even tell me the truth?"

"Morgana, you must trust me."

"He's alive, then? I know he must be because Arthur would not lie about seeing him," Morgana said, her voice gone as icy smooth as her own pale skin. "And what is this obsession with Merlin?"

"You've seen him?" Alvarr asked, urgency in his voice though he tried to cover it up.

"Why should I trust you with that?" Morgana countered, stepping fully away from him. "Why do the lycans want him? What is his importance?"

Alvarr reached out, placing a firm grip on Morgana's arms. She did not pull away but she did not relent to him either. "Morgana, you must trust me," Alvarr said, his voice low. "All in good time, you will know it all."

"But you will not trust me?"

"Don't you see? Don't you see how much I trust you? Is being here, with you, not enough?" Alvarr prompted, voice rough. He pulled her close and into his arms. She still did not yield, but she allowed this gesture. He pressed kisses to her temple. "It is all so we can be together. And what I keep from you, it is only to keep you safe. If Uther were to ever find out that you knew – I could not bare what he would do."

With this, she relaxed into his arms. "I don't like these secrets."

 

"Of course not," he said, a hand running over her long, soft tresses. "Nor do I. But as we've already said, this will be over very soon." He pulled back, looking her directly into her eyes. "Do you trust me? Please say you do."

She took one of his large, rough hands in her pale tiny ones. "You know that I do."

He kissed her, because there was not much more he could say about her betrayal. It had all been said, and planned, before. Now was the time for action.

**

The bathroom was steamed up, the hot water having run for several minutes. The mirror was clouded over with the steam. Arthur stood in front of the mirror, and in the steam, traced a name: U T H E R.

"Forgive me, father," Arthur said to his own reflection in the mirror. "But I desperately need your guidance. I must leave the castle, but I will return soon."

Arthur slipped his way through the mansion, avoiding all others and going as quick as he could. He posted Leon outside his chamber door with the orders not to let any others in, but he knew he must get back to Merlin as quick as he could; he hoped that Merlin did not wake while he was gone.

Arthur passed the security room that was outside of Uther's throne room. Only Arthur and Morgana had the clearance to enter when Uther was in repose in his adjoining chambers. While there were security cameras everywhere, Uther's chambers were the one place he could escape.

Arthur entered the chambers and went over to Uther's coffin. It was absolutely forbidden to open another vampire's coffin while they rested, unless a dire emergency. As much as Arthur wanted and needed his father awake right now, he knew that would be breaking an unthinkable Code.

But Arthur used the small released valve, the one that was a tubing system that opened right over the slumbering vampires mouth to allow drips of blood. It was usually used for feeding if the vampire needed prolonged rest, usually of several weeks or sometimes more. This occasionally happened with the eldest vampires who took a rest from all the years they've lived. The valve allowed blood to enter so that the vampire could gather strength before rising.

Arthur used it this time to pass his own blood to Uther – and through it, filtered memories and messages. It was a ritual and rite that only the elders, and Arthur, had any control over.

Arthur needed to attend to Merlin and to further investigate the happenings of the lycans. He didn't know how long that would keep him away from the castle, and Uther _must_ have the information and the reason why.

"I'm sorry, father," Arthur repeated to the casket after he released some of his blood into the valve. "I will return as soon as I can."

And with that, Arthur hurried from the chambers to attend to the sleeping lycan in his care.

 

**

"I have it," Alvarr announced as he entered the room. He held up the flash drive. "Includes the coordinates for the arrival of Bayard and his council."

Lancelot was sitting at his desk. He reached out his hand for the drive. "Most excellent," he said. He took it and put it into his laptop. "Cutting it a bit close, aren't we?"

Alvarr laughed. "I can't say it wasn't without slight complication."

Edwin pushed up from his chair, where he'd been sitting quietly in the corner. "Complications?" he asked. "I thought your vampire princess was madly in love with you?"

"Oh, she is," Alvarr said flippantly. "Madly and completely. She'd do just about anything for me."

Lancelot inserted dryly, "I can't say this is my favourite part of our plans."

Alvarr laughed and clapped his hand on Lancelot's shoulder, leaning over to look at the computer screen. "We needed someone on the inside and we were already using the old man for something else," he said. Adding, "Besides, it was your idea that Morgana may be the easiest way."

"Hm," Lancelot hummed uncommitted.

"Aaaand," Alvarr continued teasingly. "You're the one that almost mucked it right up."

Lancelot raised his eyebrows. "I did?"

"Revealing yourself to Arthur ringing any bells?" Alvarr jested. He shrugged. "It was a bit of a challenge convincing my fair maiden of the night to continue to trust me."

Edwin's smooth voice jested, "You do so love a challenge."

"Righto!" Alvarr said with a smile. "It might lose it's fun once this is all done with."

"Enough," Lancelot commanded. In a softer voice he said, "We have a plan to carry out here."

"That we do," Edwin agreed.

Lancelot asked, "Will Morgana do her part in the vampire camp? Are you certain?"

Alvarr nodded. "One hundred percent."

"Good," Lancelot said. "You will go to meet the train then since you're the only one her body guard won't rip to shreds."

Edwin commented, "He doesn't like me much."

"You shot him three time last month," Alvarr added.

"Not to kill," Edwin said. "He shouldn't be that upset. And what would you have me do while we wait for Alvarr to have his fun at the train tracks?"

Lancelot smiled. "Thanks to Alvarr and his seduction, we now have the coordinates for the coven house. You will go and stake it out. The moment Arthur and Merlin leave, you follow them."

"Beg your pardon, sir," Edwin said with the utmost respect, "but how do you know Arthur will leave with our new little lycan?"

Lancelot answered, "I know Uther Pendragon."

**

Nightmares plagued Merlin's sleep. They were blurred images, hard to decipher, but it was more the feelings and emotions that Merlin felt. There was such pain and anguish. A big bulking beast that had a howl rip from its lungs as a beautiful girl withered in pain.

The images slipped from Merlin every time he opened his eyes, but every time he fell into a fitful sleep, they crept back in. They were like memories that were as vivid and clear as any of his own; and yet, he knew they were not.

Merlin bolted upright, now fully awake, gasping and breathing deep. His eyes scanned around wildly; he found himself in a grandly furnished room he was unfamiliar with.

"About bloody time," someone said. Merlin glanced over and he saw Arthur sitting at the desk. "I was about to shake you awake, or drag you out of here unconscious, if I had to."

Arthur. It was Arthur who spoke to Merlin and who helped calm the panicked feeling that lay in his chest. "Where am I?" Merlin asked.

"You're safe," Arthur answered. "For the short time being. We need to leave, and soon."

"Why?"

"Because," Arthur started, as if speaking to a child, "by all rights, I should shoot you where you lay."

"What? That's ridiculous!" Merlin said, swinging his legs over the edge of the couch. His head spun a bit, and his hand gripped the cushion under him to keep himself upright. He felt nauseous. He asked, "What's wrong with me?"

"You've been bitten."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "I know that. Some crazy man bit me in the lift."

"He wasn't a man."

Merlin glanced over at Arthur, who sat as still as a statue at his desk. "Is this more of the supernatural nonsense you were speaking of?" He stood up. "You're all a bit mad, aren't you?"

Suddenly, much like in Merlin's flat the evening before, Merlin found himself pressed up against a wall by the throat. Arthur was in front of him, his eyes a vivid blue. His lip was curled back to reveal extremely white teeth, sharp and pointed and – were those _fangs_?

With an instinctive reflex, Merlin gripped Arthur's arm and pulled it away from him. He gave him a great push back. Unlike the night before, this time his efforts had a result and Arthur stumbled feet away from him.

Arthur did not look upset but his mouth was pressed into a grim line. "It's already begun."

Merlin stood in amazement, his eyes wide as he looked at Arthur. "What has? What was that?" Merlin knew that, in all truth, he shouldn't have been able to have the strength to do what he had just done.

"Your transformation," Arthur said. "You were bitten by a lycan. A werewolf," he clarified. "You're one of them now. Or will be fully in a very short time."

"Oh." Merlin didn't know what else to say to that.

"And now you're caught in the middle of a war, between the lycans and the vampires."

"Which – you are?" Merlin asked tentatively. But he knew the answer before Arthur even said anything. He'd seen too much the last two nights to try to deny it any further. And now that he was fully awake, he could _feel_ the difference in him. Feel something thrumming under his skin that was ready to burst out. He had a strength he'd never possessed before. He could see everything more clearly. And he was pretty sure he could hear the lightest of murmurs from down the hallway outside that solid door. It should have all be distracting and overwhelming but Merlin found himself grounded when he focused on Arthur.

Arthur gave a short nod in answer. "Yes. And it is my job to kill your kind. You, Merlin Emrys, have been caught in the middle of an age old war."

Merlin bristled at that, on the defensive. "It's not my fault some crazy man bit me!"

"Calm down," Arthur snapped. "I have had plenty of chances to kill you, and yet, I haven't. God knows why," he added sardonically. "You've been a rather pain in the arse, if you ask me."

"So then why haven't you?" Merlin snapped back.

Arthur paused. "There's something about you, Merlin…" He trailed off for a moment, but refocused. "My primary objective is to find out why Lancelot and his lycans want you. I must report this to Uther."

"Now you're just babbling a bunch of gibberish. I don't know who any of those people are," Merlin said. "I don't know why anyone wants me."

"And that is what we're going to find out," Arthur said. He grabbed a hooded jumper off a chair and threw it at Merlin. "And we must leave, now. This is not the safest place for you to be."

"Why's that?" Merlin asked as he pulled the hoodie over his head.

Arthur gave a feral grin. "We are in the home of my coven. We're surrounded by vampires."

Merlin didn't understand everything that was going on but he had got the gist of vampires wanting to kill lycans and that he was now a lycan (and that the world was absolutely _insane_ ), and that no, this wasn't exactly the best place to be right now.

"Right," Merlin said. "I'm hoping you have another car that isn't at the bottom of the river then?"

Arthur held up a set of keys. "Let's go."

"Perhaps I can drive this time?" Merlin suggested.

Arthur rolled his eyes and pocketed the keys.

**

As soon as Morgana returned to the castle she was immediately approached by Leon.

"I can not find Arthur," Leon said to her.

Morgana rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Uther wants to see him. Now."

That, however, did surprise Morgana. "Uther?" she asked. "Is he not sleeping? He should not be awake until tomorrow night."

Leon splayed his hands out to the side. "I don't know the details, he did not pass that information on to me. But he is quite angry that Arthur is not here."

"No doubt," Morgana muttered. To Leon she said, "Thank you. I will go and see him now."

Leon bowed his head. "Yes, my lady."

Leon took his leave of her. Morgana double checked her appearance in a mirror. She drew her shoulders back and held her head up high. She would be able to face Uther, even after her earlier transgressions. She had schooled herself perfectly and no one would know otherwise.

She found Uther sitting on his stone throne. His cheeks looked sunken and his skin was a pale grey; long travel was difficult on their kind. But he had an IV needled into each arm with blood dripping from the bags. She could practically see the regeneration of his skin happening right before her eyes.

"My lord," she said as she approached him, stopping with a low bow to the floor.

"Come, child," Uther said, his voice low and rough. "You do not need to practice such frivolities for my sake."

Morgana smiled and raised upright. This was an old tradition between them, for she made the gesture every time, and every time he told her not to. "Yes, my lord."

"And how have you been, Morgana?" Uther asked.

"Oh Uther, you do not have to persist with such pleasantries," Morgana said with a light smile. "We both know you wish to ask about Arthur."

"Yes, my wayward son," Uther said, raising one hand to his mouth thoughtfully. "He has shown me some disturbing images."

Morgana's eyebrow raised in surprise. "He has, my lord? Is this why you have awoken ahead of schedule?"

"It is." Uther nodded his head ever so slightly in affirmation. "He knows it is important, so he must be quite concerned about this. What do you know of Lancelot?"

"Other than what Arthur has told me? That he has seen him? Nothing, my lord," Morgana said. Before she could be questioned further, she continued. "I'm not sure what Arthur has shown you, and I don't doubt Arthur, but this is quite a surprising turn of events, isn't it?"

"Indeed," Uther agreed. "It has also meant I've been lied to and by a most trusted member of my court. This will not go unpunished."

"Of course it won't, my lord," Morgana agreed. She had years – centuries, even - of practice in maintaining a cool yet agreeable exterior. Inside, she felt sick.

Uther paused for a moment, lost in his own thought, or perhaps Arthur's memories. "Who is this human? This… _Merlin_ ," Uther asked, distaste rolling off of him.

"Human?" Morgana was more than a little surprised to hear that Arthur had kept a crucial piece of information from the vampire king. But it would not be her place, not at this current time, to reveal that secret. "Ah, yes," she said. "Arthur made mention of him. The lycans seemed obsessed with capturing him, therefore…" She smiled. "The good Knight Arthur has become obsessed with finding out why. And keeping him from them."

"Hm." Uther gave a noncommittal noise. "Very well," he finally said, with a wave of his hand. "I must rest now," he said, dismissing her. "But as soon as Arthur returns, he is to come and see me."

"I will make sure he does." Morgana gave a slight bow of her head. "My lord."

She took her leave with plans quickly calculating in her head, for things had unexpectedly changed.

**

Merlin looked around the room uncertainly. "Where are we?"

Arthur had driven them to an older part of town and parked in the alley next to a very old building. He'd lead Merlin up three flights, and Merlin could see just how old the building was – the plaster was starting to crack and crumble and the stairs on the stairwell were no longer even.

But Arthur had punched a code into a little security pad and led them into a flat. The front room fit in with the rest of the building and was scarcely furnished. But he'd punched in another code in a second security pad and the door had opened up to a room that starkly contrasted to the rest of the building.

Everything was silver and sterile, much like an operating room. There was a stretcher and there was also a metal chair with chains attached to it. There was a tray with sharp instruments, some with blood still along the edges, and a few silver bullets strewn about.

Merlin repeated, "Where are we?"

"Interrogation room," Arthur answered, going over to the refrigerator. Inside were bags of blood on a shelf. Arthur grabbed one, and threw it at Merlin. Merlin wasn't expecting it and fumbled a bit, nearly dropping it.

"I don't need this," Merlin scowled, throwing it back. "Isn't it your thing?"

Arthur shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you're starting to feel weak, let me know." He added dryly, "I don't have any raw meat for you to chew on."

Merlin pulled a face. "I won't be doing that either."

"Don't speak too soon," Arthur said with a grimace, as if disgusted with an act Merlin had yet to commit.

"Interrogation room for what?" Merlin asked, deterring from the conversation of supernatural meals. Merlin glanced warily at the silver bullets on the tray. "Do you bring lycans here?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes. We have to remove the bullets or it poisons their blood and we can't get the information we need."

"And after you get the information you need?"

Arthur grinned, pearly white teeth flashing. "We put them back in?"

Merlin shook his head. "That's barbaric."

"That's war."

"Why?" Merlin asked, turning to look at Arthur square one. "Why is there a war?"

"It started many centuries ago. The lycans were our servants; they protected us during the daylight hours. And then they betrayed us and broke free. We've been hunting them ever since."

"You didn't think to, oh I don't know," Merlin said sarcastically, "not keep them as slaves?"

"They were _not_ slaves," Arthur defended. "And I think, with time, something would have been negotiated. You forget, it was very different times then. There was a different way of ruling."

"Ah, yes. No lycan civil rights," Merlin answered, rolling his eyes.

"You're already one of them, I can tell," Arthur said dryly. "You don't even know the whole story and already you defend them. There's more to it than that!"

"Can you blame me? You keep saying how you'd hunt me down and put silver bullets into me!"

"I have not -- I'm not going to do that to _you_ ," Arthur said, arms waving about as he tried to make his point.

"Not _yet_ ," Merlin pointed out.

"Must you be so cheeky?" Arthur retorted, exasperated. "I'm trying to save your life here!"

Merlin really looked like he wanted to come back with another snappy comment but he kept it in. He had a gleam to his eye when he answered, "Yes."

Arthur was confused. "Yes what?"

"Yes, I must be so cheeky," Merlin said, deadpanned. But a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "And I do appreciate it, you know, you trying to help me --"

"-- Save you," Arthur inserted.

"-- Not put bullets into me --"

"I told you, I'm not going to shoot you!"

Merlin chuckled, holding his hands up. "Okay, okay, I believe you."

"As you should," Arthur answered pompously. "Now, take a seat. I must prepare so we can leave."

Merlin looked at the silver chair with the chains hanging from it. "I'm not sitting."

"Then stand, Merlin," Arthur said, exasperated. "But could you leave me in quiet for five minutes? Please?"

Merlin pouted but crossed his arms resolutely. "Fine. I can do that."

"Good."

"Great."

"Fantastic."

"Brilliant."

Arthur huffed and slammed his hands down on the counter top. " _Merlin_."

Merlin opened his mouth to say something else but promptly snapped it shut at the look Arthur gave him.

***

It was exactly five minutes later when Merlin asked Arthur a question. Arthur didn't expect anything less.

"How did the lycans betray you?"

Arthur sighed and closed the laptop he'd been working on. He had everything he wanted anyway. "We might not have pursed them but they attacked us first. Killed someone close to the royal family."

Merlin blinked. "Royal family? Vampires have a _royal family_?"

"Of course they do," Arthur answered arrogantly. "My father, Uther, is the ruler of the Pendragon clan."

"Your father? Vampires can have _kids_? And that would make you… ," Merlin trailed off, his eyes wide with wonder. "A vampire prince?"

"Yes. No. Well, yes but. It's… complicated."

Merlin said dryly, "Well that explains it."

"He is not my biological father but I am a direct descendant of his."

"So he's your great-great-great-great grandfather or something?"

Arthur gave a half grin. "Or something."

"Why did he … you know. Make you, ah, what you are?" Merlin said, gesturing at Arthur vaguely, unaware of the supernatural terminology.

"Turn me?"

"Yeah, that."

Arthur walked over to the window, surveying the streets below. "The war had spilled into our house. One night I woke up and heard screaming." His voice was very low but Merlin could hear him clearly. "My parents, my sisters. Attacked by lycans."

Merlin asked softly, "Why? Why would they come after your family?"

"Because, Merlin," Arthur answered as if he were explaining it to a child, "we were Uther's family. Somehow they discovered that we were his descendants and it was their revenge. Wipe out the bloodline."

"And you survived?"

"Barely," Arthur said. "I was handy with a sword and could fend them off." The muscle in his jaw twitched as the memories flashed before his eyes. "But I could not get to the others. Uther and his vampire Knights had been hunting the lycans and discovered their plans. They found me on the brink of death."

"And that's when they turned you?"

"Yes," Arthur answered. "It was that, or have his line come to extinction entirely. There were some complications later on that even Uther did not foresee, but they were worked through."

"Complications? Either you died or you didn't."

"There are a lot of politics involved with the vampire court and their council. No one had turned a direct descendant before. It made me… different."

"Different how?"

Arthur continued to look out the window, addressing Merlin though he did not face him. He could not for the life of him figure out why he was spilling his story to a _lycan_ but there was just something about this Merlin. "Stronger. I have speed and strength that rivals even the elders though I am much younger than all of them." He snorted to himself. "They didn't appreciate that very much and it nearly broke out in a civil war among our own. But we were able to work it out in treaty negotiations and it is now forbidden to sire a blood descendant. I'm the only one."

It was quiet for a moment. Arthur was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't even realized the Merlin had come up behind him until he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder. If Arthur were to turn his head slightly to the left, his nose certainly would have bumped Merlin's.

Merlin whispered softly into his ear, "I'm sorry for what happened to your family."

Arthur shrugged and Merlin's hand fell away. "It was a long time ago." He stepped away from the window and from Merlin. "We should be moving on."

"Of course," Merlin said, stepping away as well.

Suddenly, Merlin's body began to convulse.

"Merlin?" Arthur said, quickly reaching out to him.

Merlin's body went rigid and he fell to the floor. His eyes turned up into his head. He blinked and focused on Arthur and his eyes had now turned golden.

"Oh no you don't," Arthur exclaimed, grabbing Merlin's shoulders and shaking hard. Merlin seemed dazed and did not answer him. "You are _not_ doing this right now!"

Arthur reached up to the tray and grabbed one of the scalpels. In a quick movement, he stabbed Merlin in thigh with it.

Merlin yelped with pain and pushed Arthur away. He yanked the short blade out of his leg. When he turned on Arthur, Arthur was relieved to see Merlin's eyes had turned back to normal. Merlin yelled at him, "What the bloody hell did you do that for!"

"Don't be such a baby," Arthur said, covering up his worry. He stood up and held out a hand to help Merlin up. "It'll be healed over before you know it."

"So? _Why_?" Merlin scowled, easily getting to his feet.

"Silver," Arthur explained. "Your body is allergic to it now. It was such a small dose it wouldn't harm you but at least it stopped you from transforming."

This caused Merlin to stop his fussing over his leg. He stood up and straightened his jacket. He asked Arthur curiously, "Transforming?"

Arthur nodded. "It is inevitable and I'd really like to not be around when it happens."

Merlin said quietly, "I wouldn't hurt you either."

Arthur gave a sad smile and shook his head. "When it first hits you, there is no guarantee you'll be able to control it." Arthur grabbed two other little vials from the cupboard – the final provisions he needed. "So unless you want me to chain you to this chair while we ride it out, we need to go. Now."

For once, Merlin didn't protest and nodded his head in agreement.

The little security pad on the wall started beeping, causing Arthur to whip his head in that direction. The little television that security cameras in the building fed into showed men rushing up the stairs with guns in their hands.

"Oh buggar," Arthur muttered as he cocked his gun. "You. Out the window."

"What? No way!"

"Merlin," Arthur said, manhandling Merlin towards the window. "We have to get out. Now. You'll be fine."

"I am not going to jump down three stories!"

Arthur grinned. "Trust me."

And then he pushed.

**

Leon was with his team of Knights in the armory. They were preparing to greet Bayard and his court members at the train station and escort them back to the Pendragon coven estate.

Morgana entered the room and all of them stood up a little straighter, paying careful attention to their weapons. "Leon," she called out pleasantly.

Leon looked up and smiled. "Morgana," he greeted as he came over to her. "Do you come to wish us luck?"

She smiled. "That, of course, but also to tell you there is a change of plans. Your team is not to go and meet Bayard. Valiant and his team will be doing that mission."

Leon frowned. "But this has been arranged by Arthur. We have been planning this for days."

"Of course, no one is questioning that. Isn't Arthur supposed to be here leading?"

"Well, yes," Leon admitted. He straightened his back. "I am capable of leading the mission."

Morgana placed a hand on Leon's arm. "You certainly are," she agreed. "But Uther," Morgana said, stressing the king's name, "has decided to change the plans."

Leon struggled momentarily with this but finally nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Of course, if the king bids it."

"He does," Morgana answered airily. "He is quite concerned about Arthur. He would like your team to wait here for the next couple hours. If he does not return by midnight, you are to lead your team to find him."

This placated the Knight. It was a mission he would take very seriously. "Of course."

"Thank you, Leon. I know you will do what you can." She bid him farewell and nodded to the other Knights as she exited the room.

There was a bright smile on her face as she dialed the phone. All she said is, "It is done."

There would be no issues with the next step of the plan.

**

The team of vampires stood on the platform of the railway train. The train that carried King Bayard and his court had just pulled up. There was a blink of a flashlight in the window; it was a code to confirm the Knights that were greeting them.

Valiant held up his own flashlight and had it blink three times to confirm it was them. The returning two blinks gave permission for them to come aboard.

However, it was not the vampires who boarded the train.

The howls probably alerted the vampires in the train that they were being attacked. But it was only a second later that the windows smashed as lycans broke their way through, with Alvarr leading the way.

The mix of screams and howls filled the air.

Valiant and his team got back into their cars and drove away.

Valiant thought, _Morgana will be pleased._

**

The new bullets that Leon had made were amazing. The liquid silver oozed from the bullet wounds on the lycans. They had been made based on the lycan bullets made of Ultraviolet light but adapted to use liquid silver. Instant death for a lycan. Arthur supposed they should feel like cheats but this was war and they did what they could to survive.

Arthur didn't even pause to wonder how the lycans had found the hidden interrogation room. He ran to the window to follow Merlin but saw a car driving away. Through the back window he could see Merlin struggling to get out to no avail. The car turned a corner and disappeared.

"Bullocks," he muttered. About to jump out the window to pursue the car (or at least attempt to though he knew it was an unlikely chase), he was distracted by a moan from one of the bodies strewn on the floor.

Going over, he could see it was not a lycan shot with one of his bullets but a vampire. It wouldn't kill a vampire though it certainly would cause them a lot of pain.

Arthur recognized the vampire and it was a shock to him. "Gaius?" he exclaimed, kneeling down beside the older vampire. Gaius had left years ago on an educational sabbatical. When he last reported in, he was in Japan and that was near a decade ago. Search as they might, the Knights were unable to discover what happened to him. "What is going on here?"

Gaius gasped, "Where is he? Did they get him?"

Arthur frowned. "Who?"

"Merlin," Gaius said. "It is imperative Lancelot see him."

Arthur hauled Gaius to his feet and pushed him up against the wall, paying no mind to the grimace on Gaius' face from the pain of his injury. "What do you mean, Lancelot? What do you know about what's going on?"

"I will tell you if you swear--"

Arthur interrupted angrily, "I make no bargains with betrayers."

"Unless you swear to protect Merlin," Gaius said, voice rasping through the pain but not afraid, "I will take this secret to the grave."

"Surely you know that is where you will end up?" Arthur prompted. He did not know the whole story but he knew that Gaius had lied to the king and was apparently on the side of the lycans. It could only mean death for the old vampire.

"I have accepted that," Gaius said. "It is a choice I have made. And now, Prince Arthur, it's your turn to make a choice."

**

Despite being pushed out a window, Merlin did indeed land on his feet. "Wicked," he had muttered to himself, standing up straight, in awe of his new powers.

But only seconds later, he was surrounded by three men – big hulking men with a combined strength that far outweighed his own. He was shoved into a car and driven away, though he struggled for his freedom.

He realized quickly that it was impossible. The car seemed designed to be impenetrable to escape. No handles or locks to pull on to get out, windows thick and solid.

Two of the men who'd abducted him were in the front seat. There was a mesh cage, almost like a police car, that separated the front and the back seat. Merlin was in the back seat with the largest of the men.

Merlin exclaimed loudly, "What do you want from me?"

The driver turned up the radio. An obnoxious rock song filled the car. They all ignored Merlin's protests.

The further they drove the funnier Merlin began to feel. It was similar to when he was with Arthur in the interrogation room; his breath became laboured and it felt as though his lungs were expanding within his own body. All his muscles started to hurt and his joints ached.

He threw back his head and let out a howl he didn't even know he hand in him. His mouth felt like it was growing, pain spiking through his body as his teeth and jaw started to became larger.

Despite the pulsing of blood rushing through his ears, he still heard one of the other men cry out, "He's transforming."

Another said, "He's alright! Just leave him."

Merlin's nails had grown into long claws. He reached out to grab the leg of the man in the back seat; not to hurt him but just something to squeeze through the pain.

That man yelled, "We've got to dope him!"

The car came to a sudden stop and the men got out of the front seat; one of them had a needle in his hand. Merlin recognized him from the burns on his face. Instinctively, Merlin began to thrash about and tried to resist them all.

Though they had some difficulties, they pinned Merlin down. The burned one shoved a needle into his arm.

It took a few seconds, but Merlin started to feel calmer. His body wasn't trying to change into something else.

Then everything went black.

***

Arthur entered the throne room with confidence to his step. Uther was seated at his throne and watched silently as Arthur walked up to it and bowed before him.

"My lord," Arthur greeted.

"Arthur," Uther said. He made a gesture for Arthur to stand up. "I expect there is a good explanation as to why you woke me early?"

Arthur frowned. "I left you memories."

"A personal explanation would do best in this case, I think," Uther said.

"Of course, sire," Arthur said graciously. He did not seem a bit nervous but he had no reason to be; he believed he was right in what he did. "Lancelot is not dead and the lycans are up to something. I have been tracking them the past couple nights."

"Much of this troubles me," Uther said. "We have believed Lancelot was dead for hundreds of years. This means I was lied to."

"Yes, sire."

"It also means that there must be a spy inside our coven. They know too much,"

"I have found him," Arthur announced proudly. He called for two of his knights who had been holding on to his prisoner for him. They escorted Gaius into the room; Gaius was hobbling along in pain as the liquid silver nitrate was still in his veins.

"Gaius!" Uther thundered as he stood up from his throne. "What is the meaning of this?"

Gaius moved to bow before the king but with the pain burdening him he fell to his knees. "Sire," he greeted.

"Where have you been?" Uther demanded to know. "We have been searching for you for some years. It did not cross your mind to check in with us?"

"I have been assisting with putting an end to the war."

"An end to it?" Uther spat. "That will only happen once all the lycans are dead."

Gaius retorted, "And how many vampires are to be sacrificed until that happens?"

"Your time away from the courts has made you forget your place," Uther said. "I will not be spoken to like that."

"It was merely rhetorical though I dare say it deserves a bit of thought."

"Nonsense," Uther thundered. "There is one way to end this war and my knights are working on it. Now, remove him. His punishment shall be served later."

Arthur stepped forward. "Father, wait," he interjected. "Don't you want to hear what he has to say?"

"He has been consorting with the enemy. That is all I need to know. If you wish to interrogate him further before his execution that will be allowed."

"My lord, please," Arthur said reasonably. He knew what Uther was like when he was set against something and there was often little one could do to change his mind. Morgana and Arthur were the only ones who were occasionally able to. "This has to do with Merlin."

"Ah, yes. Merlin." Uther turned to Arthur with a raised eyebrow. "We have yet to discuss your little human friend."

"I believe the lycans wanted him for some purpose and Gaius has told me this is so. They believe he will put an end to the war. Though," Arthur said, glancing over at Gaius. "He has yet to reveal the full reason."

Uther addressed Gaius. "Will you tell your king?"

"I will, my lord," Gaius said. Though he had betrayed his king, and his coven, he still addressed him with the utmost respect. "You see, Merlin is a direct descendant of Balinor. It seems his blood is… special."

All vampires and lycans alike knew the legend of Balinor. He was a warrior in the 5th century. He alone survived a plague that otherwise destroyed his village. His blood was able to change the disease and he became the first true immortal. It was said that several years later he fathered three children; one bitten by a bat, one bitten by a wolf, and one to walk the short life of a human.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Uther prompted.

"You see… for years, we've been trying to combine the bloodlines. Create a – hybrid, if you will," Gaius explained. "Part vampire, part lycan. Stronger than both."

"Shameful!" Uther exclaimed.

"For years we failed," Gaius continued, not faltering under Uther's rage. "Even at the cellular level our species seemed destined to destroy each other. We discovered that the mutating virus may be found in the direct descendants of Balinor, passed on through his human child."

Arthur stood by quietly, soaking in all the information Gaius passed on. Uther was less accepting.

Uther said, "And now you think that, what, turning this Merlin into some sort of blasphemous being is going to somehow stop the war?"

"That was not exactly the plan," Gaius said with a small smile. "But seeing as he is halfway there, perhaps there will be a change of plans."

" _What_?" Uther bellowed. "What are you saying? Arthur?" He turned to Arthur for explanation.

"It seems as though the lycans have decided to turn him," Arthur answered.

"In your memories… he was a _lycan_? You brought one of them into our house?"

"Yes, but sire--"

"Enough!" Uther commanded. He glared at Arthur. "Not only did you bring one of them in here you also kept it from me."

"Yes, but sire--"

Uther did not let Arthur continue. "You have broke one of our most cardinal codes, Arthur. I put you in charge for two months and this is what happens? You're helping lycans and lying to me? This is what you get for keeping them for company."

"It's not like that," Arthur said firmly, attempting to get his point across.

"There are no excuses for this, Arthur. You will have to sit in front of the council for this and you will serve the punishment allocated to you."

Arthur's jaw set in a firm line. "Yes, my lord."

Gaius interjected, "Changing Merlin was not the original plan."

"How does that even matter?" Uther retorted. He sat back down on his throne.

"Say, for instance, Lancelot was to inject some of Merlin's blood into him? Along with the blood of a vampire elder? Someone like yourself? Or, perhaps … Bayard?"

Uther spun around and face Gaius. Arthur looked shocked. "What are you saying?" Uther demanded. "Are you trying to tell me that the lycans plan on attacking Bayard?"

Gaius bowed his head lowly. "Or have already done so, sire."

"They will not succeed," Arthur quickly said. "Knight Leon was leading the mission to pick up Bayard and his council." Arthur frowned. "Though they should have been back by now."

As if on cue, Leon burst into the throne room.

"Ah, see?" Arthur said, smiling. "All is well."

The first thing Leon said was, "Sire, we have a problem."

"Problem?" Arthur demanded of his right hand man. "What sort of problem?"

"After Valiant's team didn't return from retrieving Bayard--"

Arthur cut him off, "Valiant's team? I ordered you to do it."

"But, Arthur," Leon said, glancing at him and then to Uther. "The King changed that."

Uther sat up straighter in his throne, frowning. He said coolly, "I did no such thing."

Leon looked nervous, glancing from the king back to Arthur. "But Morgana said--"

Arthur exclaimed, "Morgana? What does she have to do with this?"

"She told me that the king ordered Valiant's team to go. My team was to stay here and wait for you. If you did not return within two hours we were to go in search for you."

"Wait, what? This makes no sense," Arthur said.

"I swear this is what she told me," Leon said defensively. "I would not do so otherwise. My lord, I am sorry that I did not check with you personally."

"If you say Morgana told you it was my order then I suppose you can not be blamed for that," Uther said. A frown marred his features. "Morgana has – had – my trust and through her my word has often been relayed. Though I do not understand why she would tell you this. What is this problem you speak of?"

"When Arthur didn't return I sent my men to look for him. I had some of them check the train station where Bayard was expected to arrive in case Arthur had decided to join up there. I have just received a phone call from them."

"And?" Arthur prompted.

Leon glanced at him and then looked back at the king. "Dead. They're all dead."

Uther's eyes went wide. "And Bayard?"

"Bled dry, sire," Leon answered.

Gaius chuckled, "It seems it has already begun."

"Take him away!" Uther ordered. Leon seized Gaius, who was removed from the room to be taken to the cells in the basement, Uther walked up to Arthur and placed a hand on his shoulder.   "I am sorry, my son, for not believing you."

Arthur bowed his head. "It is alright, my lord."

"It is not but I will make amends for that. And you, Arthur, will have a chance for your absolution."

Arthur looked up into Uther's eyes.

"How is that, sire?"

"You will kill this descendant of Balinor. This Merlin."

**

Edwin and one other lycan carried Merlin into the laboratory room. They strapped him up the board so that he was vertical.

"Well well, now look at this," Lancelot said as he entered the room. "Looks like you finally got your man."

"Very funny, sir," Edwin said dryly. Though he appeared incredibly proud of finally capturing the young lycan who seemed to elude them all too frequently. "Is Alvarr back yet?"

"No he is not," Lancelot answered. "But I have received word that they were successful in their mission. He will be bringing me Bayard's blood."

"And we have this live sack of blood you need right here," Edwin added, pointing to Merlin. "Our plan is nearly complete."

"Very nearly," Lancelot said as he prepared a needle to withdraw blood from Merlin. "Will you watch guard for Alvarr? I shouldn't do this without him and that blood here."

"Certainly, sir."

Edwin exited the room and Lancelot went up to Merlin. The young man was unconscious, his head lolled forward with his chin resting against his chest.

"When this is all over I will explain," Lancelot told Merlin, almost kindly. The young man remained sleeping, but Lancelot needed to do this for himself. "I meant no harm to come to you but you have no idea how much you are helping. But someday you will and I hope you understand."

He returned to the table and continued to prepare for the big moment when Edwin joined him again.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Edwin? Did I not tell you to keep watch?"

"Yes, Lancelot, but there is someone here to see you. She is waiting in the chamber downstairs."

"She?" Lancelot asked, raising his eyebrows. "There is one 'she' I could think of who would come here and it wouldn't be for me."

"She did ask for you, sir."

"Very well." Lancelot put down his needle and left for the chamber room.

The chamber room, as they called it, was nothing elegant. In fact, it was like most of the other rooms here; dark and dank with crumbling concrete walls and water that dripped from pipes overhead. Nothing fancy for those who were forced to dwell in the undergrounds of Camelot.

And yet in the middle of the room was a vision. Morgana's hair was plaited into a long braid that hung over her shoulder. She was wearing tight black trousers and tall black boots; a bit of fur held down with a chain-mail sash rested over a soft grey jumper.

"Morgana," Lancelot greeted, closing the door behind him. "What has it been, a fifty years since we've last seen each other?"

"Give or take a dozen," she answered, a tight smile on her lips. "But whose counting when you've got forever?"

"Whose counting indeed," Lancelot agreed. "Is there something I can do for you? You've already done so much for us."

"I have, haven't I?" she said, a smug grin on her face. "By the way, sending Alvarr to seduce me? I can't decide if that was sheer brilliance or complete idiocy."

"Oh, come now. I remember you did have a thing for rough-around-the-edges handsome men," Lancelot said with a small grin. "I also thought it'd be better if I kept under the radar. I figured you'd know who sent him."

"And he never had a clue, did he? That I knew you were alive?"

Lancelot shrugged. "You are an incredibly cunning woman, Morgana."

"That I am," she agreed. "Though the last couple days have put me to the test; I'm happy I succeeded."

"As are we," Lancelot said with a bow of his head. "Honestly, though, is there something I can do for you?" Lancelot asked in a kind tone reserved for very few -- one being a lifetime old friend.

Morgana shook her head. "No. I've only come to say goodbye. I will not get in the way of your plans, Lancelot. I am leaving now, as surely Uther will discover my betrayal soon. I have other arrangements made -- ones that do _not_ include Alvarr."

Lancelot grinned. "So you let us use you so you could use us?"

"Something of the sort," she answered, smiling back. "This ridiculous war needs to end. And Uther and his tyranny need to be dethroned. It wasn't something I could do on my own."

"I do appreciate your help in the matter."

"Yes, well. Having the remaining vampire covens go to war with each other over Bayard's death will certainly distract them from you. Although I still have yet to figure out how that human Merlin fits into this …"

"Some things are better left unsaid."

"Hm, I suppose. But not all," she hummed. Morgana approached Lancelot and rested a hand on his cheek. "We have found justice for her and revenge against Uther. After all these centuries, I think we can both finally feel at peace."

He patted her hand. "I think so as well. Goodbye, Morgana."

"Goodbye, Lancelot." Morgana turned to leave but paused for a moment. She said, "I should warn you -- Uther is not in his repose tonight and I do not doubt that he is on his way here. You should prepare for a battle."

Lancelot gave a small smile. "We've been preparing for battle for a long time. But thank you for your warning."

She nodded her head and took leave of the room.

Lancelot muttered under his breath, "Where is Alvarr?" He went to warn his lycans that they would soon be under siege.

**

All the Knights that they could spare were taken on the mission to the lycan den. If the numbers that Gaius had revealed were correct this was about to be the biggest battle between the two supernatural species in centuries, since the one where Lancelot had supposedly died three hundred years before.

They also knew where the lycan den was because Uther had retrieved the information from Gaius by using any necessary. The Knights had suited up and were outfitted with weaponry, and made their way to the lycan den.

There was a myriad of under ground tunnels that they worked their way through; finally they found the old elevator shaft that Gaius said would lead them down into the den. Each of the vampires took their turn stepping off the edge, falling down through the shaft and landing neatly on their feet.

They broke off into teams to finish scouting out the area. When no one was looking, Arthur slipped away. He followed the directions that Gaius only gave to him; to find the laboratory where Merlin was most likely being kept.

Behind him, gunfire erupted; the sound of it echoed off the walls. But Arthur did not stray from his course, from his destiny.

**

Lancelot was not pleased that Alvarr had not made it back yet. He grew more concerned when he heard the gunfire erupt. He knew the vampires were amongst them now and if he did not get that vile of blood immediately then their whole plan would lie to waste.

Unexpectedly, the battle had made its way to him. As a bullet entered his shoulder Lancelot's body flew back. He sprawled through the dirt on the floor, clouds of dust hovering around him. It was a more intense pain then he'd ever had before from a gun wound; looking down he could see a little rivulet of silver oozing out of him. Simultaneously, he could feel it starting to spread throughout his body, using his bloodstream to work its way about.

He gasped for air, body twisting back and forth as he tried to find the strength to stand.

A shadow fell over him. Looking up, he saw a face he recognized that he had not seen in centuries. And saw the gun barrel pointed down at him.

Lancelot gasped, "Valiant."

The vampire smirked down at him. "For centuries I have had to pretend that I really killed you when I said I did. The lie was at my mistress' bidding." Valiant's thumb pulled back on the hammer and it clicked into ready position. "Even if no one will know, not even she, it will bring me great peace of mind knowing that I finally did what I've so long said I have done."

Lancelot didn't say anything to him. He just closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable.

**

Arthur found Merlin exactly where Gaius said he would be. He sliced a knife through the leather straps that held him to the board; he took his gun and shot through the chains that bound Merlin's wrists. Merlin's body fell forward; he groaned as he sank to the floor, body weary with pain and the transformation that was lurking just under his skin.

"Come, Merlin," Arthur said, grabbing his arms and trying to pull him to his feet. "We must get out of here. Uther's on his way; he'll kill every lycan he can."

"And you," Merlin said, rubbing his wrists, "just for helping me."

Arthur didn't acknowledge that, just grabbed Merlin's arm and pulled again. "Come on."

**

At that moment, Merlin groaned and gasped. He couldn't hold himself up and sunk to his knees. Suddenly, there were visions flashing before his eyes - not of this time, not of his own, but he _saw_ them, knew they were memories.

" _No_ ," he groaned. Merlin could see _her_ , the lovely lady, with her wrists clasped over her head in chains. It was a large room, with nothing in it but the thick wooden post she was hung to. Merlin was on his knees with chains going from his wrists to the floor to prevent him from going to her. The roof was shaped like a dome, and with the creaking noise of metal, part of it opened and gave way to the night sky. The stars twinkling above grew duller until they nearly disappeared; the dark night was starting to turn to grey and dawn was quickly approaching. The lady and Merlin both knew what this meant and it frightened them. Her brown eyes shifted to the striking blue of a vampire. She tried using her supernatural strength and she started struggling against the bonds holding her there.

As Merlin in the vision was forced to watch her, he could feel all the emotional pain of it - the love, the worry. The absolute anguish ripping through his entire body as the sunlight crept into the room, finally touching her skin. It began to sizzle and her screams of agony staked knives through his heart. A low, guttural growl of an animal ripped through his body as he called out her name.

The Merlin in the present cried out in pain of his own as the vision marked upon his memories, sliding in there as if they were his own - but he knew they were not. He knew who they really belonged to, and what had really happened.

"I know who started the war," he gasped, finally focusing on Arthur in front of him.

**

"So do I," Arthur said gruffly, "I told you."

Though Arthur knew the process well enough, had used his own blood to try to transfer memories just that very day. He knew how it was passed on from the sire to subject. There was little he could doubt about Merlin seeing _something_ but he could deny that Merlin fully understood just what he was seeing.

"Uther," Merlin said. "It was Uther."

Arthur prompted, "Uther? That's blasphemy! No, it was the lycans--"

Merlin's voice rasped, "Uther killed Guinevere."

"I never told you her name ..." Arthur pulled back from Merlin. "What do you know of Guinevere? They took her," he added, almost desperately, trying to cling on to the beliefs he'd held on to for so many centuries. "When they broke free, they took her hostage. Tortured, and burned--" He had seen the very vision in his head, after Uther had turned him.

"No," Merlin interrupted. "He loved her, and she him, and Uther forced him to watch her die. He burned her alive. I've seen it." Merlin's eyes closed and his entire body shuddered. "Uther chained Guinevere up and left her hanging there, waiting for the sun. He returned that night, to see her charred body. I know it happened."

"Who? Who loved her? What are you talking about?" Arthur prompted impatiently.

"Lancelot," Merlin said. Arthur's eyes went wide, unable to contain his surprise. Merlin continued, "They loved each other and were going to run away. Uther found out and feared a union of the two species. He punished them both."

Arthur gulped and was transfixed. Part of him didn't want to hear this heresy any longer; the bigger part of him believed it. If he was able to hide certain facts from Uther, then surely Uther would be able to do it too. Merlin still had his eyes shut, as if unable to look away from the vision before them. Arthur grabbed his shoulders and gently shook him. "Merlin. Focus. What happened then?

"Uther had come to witness the charred body, to see for himself that both Gwen and Lancelot were punished for their forbidden love. It was then that Lancelot… He was in so much pain. He was heartbroken. He broke free of his chains and escaped from Uther."

There was pain in Arthur's eyes, a flash of confusion quickly followed by betrayal. He quickly processed it and his face soon became the blank warrior's mask again. "Come on, Merlin," Arthur said, hauling the thin man up to his feet. "We need to get out of here. Now."

The two made their way through the underground building, dodging behind stone columns as needed, avoiding the warring lycans and vampires around them. More than once, they were attacked by a lycan because Arthur was there. Every time, Arthur shot him squarely in the forehead and kept Merlin shielded behind him.

"Over there," Arthur said, pointing to an elevator shaft. Merlin ran ahead and Arthur covered behind them. As Merlin threw the door open, he was greeted by a surprise.

Valiant stood there, eyes a vibrant blue. His dark shirt was smudged with the grit of this place, mud dirtying up the bottom of his boots.

Merlin instinctively growled at him, a lycan impulse he could not contain. It drew Arthur's attention to them but there was little the vampire could do at that distance.

Valiant held out his arm, gun in hand, and shot Merlin twice.

Arthur cried out, "No!" as Merlin's body flew back several feet through the air.

**

The pain coursing through Lancelot was more than anything he'd ever felt. Almost more, save for that fateful night his beloved Guinevere had been killed. But despite his age and strength, the liquid silver was overtaking his body and there was little he could do about it now.

He stumbled through the corridors, trying to make his way back to where he'd left Merlin. All his hopes were now pinned on the thin, dark-haired man; no, thin, dark-haired _lycan_. And he would soon, so very soon, become more than that. He _must_. Lancelot gave up his life for this mission and he would not see it fail. This war must come to an end.

The thoughts of, _get to Merlin_ mingled with _soon, my dear Guinevere, so soon_ , pulsed through his mind as the liquid silver pulsed through his body. It was what kept him going.

 _Soon_.

**

Arthur rushed to Merlin's side, falling to the ground beside him. He could see the two bullet wounds, one in the chest and one in the abdomen. The liquid silver was dribbling out of them, but Arthur knew that it was also running through Merlin's bloodstream. Merlin moaned in pain, his body convulsing as he gasped to take in air. Arthur could see Merlin's veins, turned mercury-blue, protruding from his skin. Merlin's eyes, when they flew open, were completely gold - his body was trying to use its lycan strength to combat the silver. It did not seem to be working.

Out of no where, Morgana appeared at Valiant's side. "What is going -- Arthur!"

"Morgana?" Arthur was confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Ending this," she answered. "Ending this stupid war." She looked down at Merlin. "Valiant, you weren't supposed to shoot that one. You aren't supposed to shoot any of them anymore."

The large bodyguard shrugged.

"Morgana," Arthur said, glaring at her. She seemed a stranger to him now. "What did you do?"

"Come, we must go," Morgana said, extending a hand out while she looked over her shoulder. She looked back at him, and Arthur had made no move or gesture to her. "Arthur, _now_."

Arthur growled, "How could you _do_ this? Uther-"

Morgana threw back her head, an angry and ugly laugh wretched from within her. She looked back at him, eyes wild. "Uther?" Suddenly, any look of amusement dropped from her face. "If only you knew what he really was. For centuries, I've cleaned up his mess, kept his secrets. Why do you think he trusts me so?" She sneered, pointed teeth bared. "But I hate him and he does not deserve the power he has!" Her eyes flashed, her arm gesturing through the air. "It was him who started this bloody war! Killed Guinevere, my friend, who fell in love with one of them but she certainly didn't deserve to burn for it."

Arthur was completed still, immobile, save for his eyes going a little wider; he did not want to believe it. Could not! But Morgana's angry words were too close to what Merlin had said not but five minutes earlier. It was as though Morgana's anger and hate for what Uther did confirmed it and nearly sold Arthur on the truth. Arthur tried to resist it, keep it at bay, but the realisation of what his father really was was starting to crash in on him.

"Lies," Arthur forced out.

Morgana grinned. "Believe what you want," she said, though she clearly wasn't buying it from him. "But, come with me. Make your escape. You will make a much better leader than Uther ever was." She extended a hand out to him.

Arthur flinched away, leaning closer to Merlin, one of his hands coming to rest on his chest.

Morgana straightened up, her eyes cool. There was an angry set to her jaw. "So be it," she said icily. "He was never supposed to be part of the plan anyway."

As if on cue, Valiant pointed his gun right at Merlin and Morgana did nothing to stop him.

Suddenly, Valiant's head was thrown back as he cried out in pain. Beside him, Morgana growled and they both looked to the ground beside him.

There in the dirt was Lancelot, on his stomach, letting go of the knife he'd just driven into Valiant's calf. Valiant swung his arm down through the air, his mighty strength backhanding Lancelot across the face. This caused Lancelot to fly back several feet and land against abandoned metal propane cylinders.

Valiant's body began to crumpled against the pain and loss of blood but Morgana easily caught him in her arms. She glanced at Arthur, as if looking for help or confirmation that he would attend to her, follow her. But he remained crouched at Merlin's side protectively, face turned away from her though he was watching out of the corner of his eye. She shook her head and the pair quickly darted out of the room, intent on saving themselves.

Arthur's attention back to Merlin, he saw the other man had stopped moving. His eyes were closed, his body still. "Merlin, you idiot," Arthur said urgently. "Wake up. I said, wake up!"

And then Arthur heard, " _Bite him_."

He glanced over to where Lancelot had been thrown. Lancelot bowed his head ever so slightly, a gesture of old to the vampires, and grinned a manic smile. "Arthur, _bite him_."

Arthur could hear it in his mind, the words of old Gaius -

 _Half vampire, half lycan, but stronger than both._

Arthur knew there would only be one way to save Merlin. He struggled with the thought, but only for a moment; this was not something he'd done before, partaken in a human's flesh and blood, as it had been forbidden long ago. But ultimately, he knew there could be no other choice.

Arthur's hand cradled Merlin's head, lifting it up off the ground. He leaned in, his free hand gently tilting Merlin's head, baring the column of his throat. Arthur pressed his nose against Merlin's neck, inhaling the scent there, taking a small lick at the skin.

Arthur sunk his teeth into Merlin's neck, lips forming a seal to prevent blood from escaping, and he sucked gently.

**

Behind Arthur, Lancelot sighed one last time and let the silver take over his body.

**

Arthur felt himself being pulled away from Merlin. He slid across the dirt floor and came to a stop as he hit a cement wall.

Looking over he could see Uther. Other than removing him from Merlin's neck, Uther paid Arthur no mind. He glared down at Merlin.

Merlin was already looking better, the silver that had been coursing through his body seemed to dissipate as the vampire venom started to make its way through. But he was still caught off guard and not alert enough. He didn't even struggle as Uther bent down and picked him up. Uther, the most powerful of vampires, didn't have any trouble with holding Merlin up above his head.

Looking into Merlin's now-golden eyes, Uther muttered with contempt, "Blasphemous."

With one mighty grunt, he threw Merlin through the wall. Arthur couldn't see how far Merlin fell when he disappeared from sight.

Uther whirled around. "Where is Morgana?" he commanded of Arthur.

Arthur could not answer him. He just stared at the vampire he considered a father and a king for over five centuries.

"Arthur," Uther prompted. "Don't you know?"

Arthur whispered, his voice rough like sandpaper, "You started it."

"What are you going on about?"

"The war. They didn't attack us. You killed – she was one of our own."

"Do not speak of things you do not know," Uther said. "You weren't there."

"Lancelot was. Merlin saw it in Lancelot's memories," Arthur said. He looked up into Uther's face. "Morgana told me. She keeps your secret no longer."

"Where is she?" Uther asked again. "It is because of her that Bayard is dead. Who knows how else she has betrayed us? She will pay for—"

" _Her_?" Arthur yelled, finally snapping out of his daze. "What about you? How about how you betrayed us all for _centuries_?"

Uther was upon Arthur within a second, grabbing him by the shoulders and holding him up in the air much like he had with Merlin. "Never speak to me that way again," Uther thundered. "How dare you? I saved your life, took you in as my own son. Held you in the highest esteem in our court. And _this_ is how you repay me?"

Arthur grabbed at Uther's arms, struggling to free himself. He yelled, "There is no absolution for _your_ betrayal!"

Uther used his might to throw Arthur across the room. Arthur hit a cement wall six feet up with a loud crash and slid down to the dirt and gravel ground.

From below came a deep wild growl.

**

When Merlin had been thrown through the wall he had fallen one story below. He had landed on his stomach in a very shallow pool of dark murky water. He had turned his head to the side, desperate for air and not to end up drowning.

He rolled over onto his back and he began thrashing around in the water. His body was convulsing. It was similar to earlier, when he was in the back of that car and his body had tried to transform. But it felt different this time too – Arthur had helped turn him into something different.

His jaw didn't grow and his mouth didn't turn into a snout, though his teeth grew into fangs. He could feel the rest of his body bulk up, lean but strong muscles to his arms and abdomen; he didn't turn into a big bulking beast but he had the power of one living in those muscles. His fingernails turned into long claws. His skin didn't change colour but his eyes were a vibrant gold rimmed with vivid blue.

He had turned into exactly what Lancelot had been hoping for.

When he looked up, he could see perfectly as Uther threw Arthur into the wall. It was then the feral growl ripped from deep within him; he would never have thought he could be capable of a sound like that.

Within one second he was up the wall and through the gaping hole in it. He caught Uther off guard by appearing at his side. It was time for payback; Merlin grabbed Uther and threw him through the hole in the wall and into the water below. Anything to keep him from Arthur.

Merlin jumped down and landed in a perfect battle stance.

**

There were very few times in his life that Arthur had been in so much physical pain. Rarely was he up against someone stronger than him – but Uther was by tenfold. It felt as though his back had been broken against that cement wall.

He would heal, of course, but not nearly as quickly as he wanted – which was immediately.

From below he could hear horrific snarls and growls of supernatural beings battling each other. Arthur did what he could to crawl over and look down to see what was going on.

It was a large open space with a shallow pool of water. It looked like some horror version of an underworld courtyard, balconies and windows looking down on it. Arthur could see that in the shadows there were glinting sets of eyes; vampires and lycan alike. They too watched the scene below but not a one interfered with the powerful beings.

Arthur could see how Merlin had physically changed. His muscles were lean and compact, almost a greyhound version of what a lycan really was. He had a lycan's brute strength but also a vampire's quickness.

He was holding his own against the oldest vampire; as predicted, he was stronger than both. But as the fighting wore on, Arthur could see that Merlin was starting to falter and make mistakes; he didn't have the experience or training to fight against the age and strength of Uther.

Fists flew and claws struck out. Fangs were bared and bodies thrown about. Merlin certainly landed some strong punches and even left claw marks across Uther's face, from his forehead right down to his chin.

But the battle took a turn when Uther got the upper hand. He threw Merlin against a stone column. Merlin hit the column with his back and slid down and Arthur winced in sympathy. Merlin slid down. He struggled to get up but his body collapsed back to the ground.

Arthur saw Uther unsheathe his sword, an ancient family heirloom called Excalibur. When Uther made his move towards Merlin, Arthur cried out, "Uther, no!"

This was enough to alert Merlin, who jumped up to his feet. He was able to duck out of the swing of the sword and knock it from Uther's hand; it landed several feet away and they returned to hand-to-hand combat.

Arthur used what strength he had to get to his feet. He jumped down to the ground below -- the same level as the fight. He saw Excalibur and picked up the sword.

"Uther!" Arthur yelled. The vampire turned towards Arthur just as Arthur made a giant leap through the air; he thrust the sword with all his might.

Landing neatly beside Merlin, Arthur turned to face the man he considered a father. There he was, sprawled across the ground, Excalibur sticking into his chest as if embedded in a slab of white marble. Uther's body was still and unmoving, his jaw slack and his eyes empty.

It was more than Arthur could handle at the moment. Arthur fell to his knees and felt sick. Merlin stood protectively beside him.

From the levels above, Arthur could sense movement. Looking up, he could see those gleaming eyes become clearer as they moved forward. He and Merlin couldn't fight them all off; Uther fighting had kept them at bay but now it was open season.

Merlin let out a deep, guttural growl. It was louder than anything Arthur had ever heard before and more predatory than anything he could imagine coming from Merlin. Looking up, he could see those gleaming eyes sink back in the shadows. Now that they knew what was there, what Merlin was, Arthur sensed they'd have safe passage out of here. For now, at least.

Once in the clear, Merlin let go of his all his supernatural powers. His body returned to human form; the same skinny, knobby-kneed, big-eared goof that Arthur had first met. His eyes were their natural human blue.

"Arthur," he said, falling to his knees beside Arthur. "Are you okay? Arthur, can you hear me?"

"I'm not deaf, Merlin," Arthur muttered. He looked up at Merlin. "We need to get out of here. Now."

"Yes, yes, of course," Merlin said. He stood up and helped Arthur to his feet. Arthur didn't even try to shrug him off and allowed the assistance.

"No, Merlin, I mean _out_. Away from the city. We have to hide."

"But, why?" asked Merlin, confused. A smile broke out on his face. "We won!"

"The battle, maybe, but not the war."

Merlin frowned. "I don't understand."

"One coven leader is dead. And the other is --" He frowned as he looked over at Uther's body, unable to tell if it was a fatal blow. He almost didn't want to know. "Incapacitated. By my hand," Arthur said, trying to hold in the grimace.

He walked over to Excalibur, not looking down at the vampire king. He pulled the blade out of the body and looked back at Merlin. "And you are… you. And despite what Lancelot envisioned, it might not actually go over that well. Especially with him dead too. There is no telling how the vampires or the lycans will react to this. But I'm guessing not that good."

Merlin's head hung down as he approached Arthur. "So it's not over."

"I'm sorry, Merlin, but it's really not. But we'll work through this." Arthur clapped a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "Together."

The beaming smile on Merlin's face made Arthur feel like he was in the sun for the first time in hundreds of years. It was nearly enough to make Arthur truly believe they would be okay.

For a difficult time lay ahead.

The hunter was about to become the hunted.

 

 _~ end_


End file.
